Another Dream
by I Am Sweden
Summary: Kuja, Zidane, and Mikoto escape from Terra and Garland's clutches to land on Gaia. But the three are separated upon arrival, and now they each, bearing the fear of being found and the thought of Ramuh's prophecy, must find each other before Garland does.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, sue for starting another fic when I should be working on the ones I've already got started. It's just that this idea has been infiltrating my brain for the last while, I had to write it down to get it out. I still haven't forgotten Amaranth or Desert Rose, and I promise that I'm still working on them. So, please enjoy this weird, messed up, AU-beyond-belief fic!**

**R&R!**

**Another Dream**

**Chapter 1- A Hasty Decision**

"One more mistake!" he bellowed. "Once more, and you'll be wishing you were dead!"

His face remained passive, but his hands, clasped behind his back, were shaking. "Of course. My apologies, Master Garland. I will not let it happen again."

The Time Lord snarled out one last threat before turning and slamming the library's door shut.

Gingerly, two blond heads popped up from behind a large desk. "Kuja?" One cautiously asked. Looking around out of fear for Garland to pop in again, he walked over to him and grabbed the edge of his white shirt. "Is Garland mad we're gone again?"

He swallowed hard, nodding. "I shouldn't have agreed to let you skip class again," he murmured, more to himself than to his six-year-old brother, Zidane.

The next halo of blond hair walked out. Mikoto frowned at them both, her bright blue eyes filling with tears. "I don't want to go back. Garland… tells us things that I think are bad. Kuja, when can we leave?"

"…I'm not sure," he finally admitted. The two's faces fell. After weeks of promising them that he would get them and himself away from Garland and Terra, Kuja finally had to admit that he had no idea how to bring this to reality. It wasn't like there was any place left to go, anyway. Terra was long dead- aside from the soulless genomes inhabiting Bran Bal outside of Castle Pandaemonium. But with Garland constantly checking in on them, it wouldn't be long before he discovered his three "children" hiding among them.

Zidane took Mikoto's hand trustingly. Kuja felt sick to his stomach as he told her, "Kuja will figure something out! He always does, doesn't he?"

A small smile came to her face. She looked up at Kuja and said, "Thank you."

His hands were shaking again. They were just children, willing to believe anything that was told to them. If Garland gave them a childhood filled with lessons of death and war, how would they turn out? How long would it take before they too turned against their only older brother? Kuja hadn't once agreed with Garland, so he had immediately been turned into the black sheep of his genomes. He didn't look like them either. It was if fate, too, was separating him from the rest- to point out how he didn't fit in. But Zidane and Mikoto- who could have been confused for twins had they not been a year apart in age- didn't care about how he was Garland's "failed creation" and had decided to follow him wherever he went.

It was certainly good to have someone on his side- but two _toddlers_ couldn't do much for him.

But he could certainly do a lot for them, being the oldest at eleven. It wasn't much to brag about, however. Every time Kuja found a way to get them out of another war lesson, Garland came up with another way to threaten him. This last time had certainly sounded legit, and Kuja wasn't about to test him one more time to see if he'd follow through with his threats.

If Kuja was going to get them out before it was too late, it had to be tonight.

"I'll tell you what," Kuja proposed, kneeling down to their short levels. "Tonight we'll go on a little trip. Pack everything you can and be in my room straight after Garland calls for curfew, alright? Anything you want to bring along, you have to pack. We won't be coming back here again."

"Ever?" Zidane asked.

Kuja nodded. "Ever. Plushies, anything lucky- you better bring them along. If not, you'll never see them again."

Mikoto nodded, still holding on tight to Zidane's hand. "We'll go pack right away."

He smiled. "Good. And don't let Garland see you."

((((()))))

Kuja pulled Mikoto's white and red cloak tighter around her, seeing her already shivering in Terra's cool night air. He hoped that wherever they next would go wouldn't be as cold as Terra.

He had only heard of the spell once, and had never before practiced it.

Oh, he hoped it worked, because it was loud and flashy.

Kuja didn't like loud and flashy, _at all_.

He put Zidane and Mikoto together, strictly telling them that if they got separated during the spell, it would be a long time before they got back together. The two solemnly nodded, looking expectantly to him.

Taking a deep breath, Kuja stuck his hands out and started to chant. Zidane and Mikoto remained dead silent, staring at him in awe. Zidane looked down at Mikoto, biting her lip and fist coiled tight at her side. He gave her a reassuring smile, calming her nerves just a little.

Wind started to pick up around the three, and their bodies started to fade. Kuja turned and quickly grabbed the two. "Whatever you do," he shouted over the roaring gales, "don't let go of me!"

With their eyes shut tight, clinging tight to each other, the spell whisked them away.

**Lindblum**

"Gah, where's Blank? I told that runt to be back 'ere by dusk!"

"W-we don't know, Boss, swear. We turned around, and he wasn't there anymore."

Baku fumed and considered beating the truth out of Cinna and Marcus, but they actually looked truthful, for once in their miserable, conniving lives. Instead, Baku grumbled out every curse in the book and grabbed his coat. "Well, we gotta go find the brat. It's the middle of winter, and I ain't about to waste any firewood thawing the brat out. RUBY! GET YERSELF DOWN HERE!"

In a bolt of mint green and old leather, Ruby flashed down to the hideout's den. "Ya called, Boss?"

"We're going out to get Blank. Keep down the fort, a'right? Keep the fire going."

She nodded and plopped down on a holey, stained couch. "Don't ya be worrin' yaself, Boss. I'll take good care ah the place."

"I told you! I can't go without them!"

"But you'll freeze ta death out here!"

Baku burst out onto the quiet streets of Lindblum to see a ragged, washed-rat-looking boy with bright silver hair standing (or, rather, limping) next to Blank. He was surprised to see tears in the kid's eyes. "Ah… what're ya doin out in the cold wearing that, boy!" he burst, more out of surprise than scorn. Baku grabbed him by the arm and dragged him in. "You go sit by the fire. Who're ya looking for?"

"M-my siblings," he stuttered, being led inside by Blank, Cinna, and Marcus. Ruby was already off to the kitchen to get some hot tea. "Zidane and Mikoto. They're blond; they don't look like me."

He frowned, turning back outside. The snow had picked up, and two kids lost wearing thin clothes like his weren't going to last long in that kind of weather. "I'll be back. Ya'll keep out of trouble, ya hear?"

"Kay, Boss!" they echoed in unison.

((((()))))

"Z-Zidane?"

Mikoto rolled over on her stomach, rubbing her eyes. "Zidane? Kuja?" she asked louder, her quiet voice lost to the silent city. Snow littered the streets so unlike anything she had seen before. She cocked her head, seeing a light moving towards her. Mikoto stumbled to her feet, calling out to it. "Hello?"

A cloaked figure hurried over to her. "A child?" he asked, agape under a thick hood of his parka. "What are you doing out here alone? You'll catch your death!"

She shivered in agreement to that, hugging onto him. "Please, sir, can I get to somewhere warm?"

He blinked, surprised to see her act with so much audacity. Hadn't anyone told her to be wary of strangers? Or was she really that desperate? Even so, it didn't matter, and the Regent Cid of Lindblum wasn't about to let this poor girl freeze.

Cid picked her up in his arms, receiving no complaint from her, and rushed off to rejoin his guard patrol. "Keep watching the streets. Should anything be affected by the snow, come to tell me. I must get her back to the castle."

His captain saluted him and ordered his men off.

((((()))))

Zidane bolted upright, knocking snow off of him. He shook with a chill and jumped up to his feet, looking around frantically for Kuja and Mikoto. Where were they?

All around him were rocks rising high into the night sky, and forestry from which came unknown sounds came from. Zidane backed up to the cliffside, frightened. "Kuja?" he called out hopefully. "Mikoto?"

"You came from another world, did you not?"

Zidane yelped and turned to an old man, grinning and stroking his long beard. "I am Ramuh, and I think I might be able to help you out, Terran."

He furrowed golden eyebrows. "Help me get back to Kuja and Mikoto?"

"Yes. Kuja has found a warm place to stay the night, as has Mikoto. Now, I must ask you. Where will you go? This is Pinnacle Rocks, an area inhabited by only fiends and myself. I'm afraid you won't find a home here."

"Where are they?" Zidane asked, nervously turning to the forest where a howl erupted amidst the cacophony of snarls and screeches.

"With Tantalus and the Regents, Cid and Hilda."

Zidane looked hopelessly confused as to what a Tantalus was, and who these Regents were. Ramuh sighed and led him up a path, taking notice to his shivering. He was ill-prepared for the winter, that was for sure. Ramuh thought to skip the explanations and gave him his choices. "There are two places for you to go. Would you rather stay with your brother and amongst a band of thieves, or with your sister and a castle belonging to the ruling regents of Lindblum, the city just above us?"

"They're not together?" he breathed fearfully.

Ramuh shook his head. "No, they are not."

Zidane's distraught face looked down to the ground. "I…," he swallowed hard. "I want to be with them both. Take me somewhere that I can see them both all the time."

He nodded. "A wise decision. We will have to go farther than Lindblum. A place called Alexandria- Tantalus visits there often, as do the Regents. The Queen has recently lost her daughter to illness, and the castle is in a frenzy to find another heir. Perhaps they can spare room for two," he mused, looking over the boy. "Queen Brahne is a good person. She took in that survivor from Madain Sari, so I'm positive she'll do the same for you. You do look somewhat like the King."

Zidane's head swam with all of this. Queen Brahne? Madain Sari? Alexandria?

_Listen close. This world next to ours, called Gaia, houses many plentiful lands. There are four continents, but only one has enough souls to bother with. The Mist Continent, named after the byproduct from the Iifa tree. There are several locations on this Continent, Alexandria, Lindblum, and Burmecia being the largest. One day, I will have you two go to Gaia and initiate a war to regulate the soul intake onto Terra. It won't be long before Terra is teeming with an abundant life much like Gaia._

"Terran?"

Zidane snapped back to attention, looking up at Ramuh. "My name is Zidane."

The old man nodded thoughtfully. "Zidane, hmm? In another life, I think I may have met you…."

"Another… life?" he slowly asked.

Ramuh waved the thought away. "Never mind that. If it's what you want, I'll get to Alexandria. But this is my protected place and I cannot come to Alexandria to take you back should you change your mind."

Zidane nodded. "Then, please, take me to Alexandria."

He nodded and lifted his staff high into the air. Lightning struck it, making Ramuh glow with power. "Alexandria it is, then, Ter- ah, Zidane."

In one flash of light, they were gone.

**Alexandria**

The esteemed Captain Steiner of the Knights of Pluto had certainly seen many things in his life, but none stranger than the sight of a child and a wizard teleport inside the Queen's throne room. He had his sword drawn immediately, brandishing the blade to the two intruders. "Where have you come from, and why do you invade-"

"Calm down, Steiner," King Azural said, calmly turning to the two himself. "You are Ramuh, one of the former guardians of Madain Sari?"

He nodded and pushed Zidane forward. His eyes were bright and wide at the grand throne room, looking over the King, the Queen, and the frightened black-haired girl by their sides. Steiner and another woman stood on either side of the royals, both posed and ready to attack should the visit turn ill-intended. "This boy here is a survivor himself, much like your daughter."

The girl shyly looked up at him in confusion. The Queen grimly pulled her closer to her. "From where? Why have you come to us?"

"A prophecy," Ramuh said. Zidane turned to him, confused. How did a prophecy come into this mess? "It shall come to pass that one day a man from the heavens shall come, seeking the power of the guardians of Madain Sari. He'll be looking for this boy as well as the princess, so I am requesting that you take him under your wing and keep him safe."

Azural and Brahne exchanged fearful looks. "Alright, we shall. Have you informed Cid and King Renas of this prophecy?"

He dipped his head. "I shall hurry to them right away." Ramuh turned away from them and again lifted his staff. Zidane waited to see lightning crash through the roof and strike it again, but he only flashed away without the elaborate show of magic.

Zidane felt the eyes of people in the room zone in on him, who simply stood there in mute silence. Finally, Brahne spoke. "What's your name?"

"…I'm Zidane. Um, your majesty," he added after a second thought.

"Zidane?" the little girl asked, popping up over the queen's fat arm. "I'm Garnet."

Something seemed to knock the breath out of him. Garnet, Garnet…. Where had he heard that from before?

Brahne nodded to the woman at her side. "Beatrix, get the dear a room. He must've been outside in the snow."

Zidane looked down to see a puddle of melted snow around him. Embarrassed, he looked down at the ground and refused to meet the General's eyes. "Follow me," she said softly.

He nodded and trudged after her.


	2. Chapter 2

**I know that this may seem a bit early- they're supposed to be looking desparately for each other, right? Well, it is necessary, and this isn't the chapter when Kuja, Zidane, and Mikoto get back together. That comes a lot later. May I thank my wonderful reviewers: Kirino Tsuki and Midnight the Black Fox! **

**Chapter 2- An Optimistic Pessimist**

**Four months later**

"I really don't see what the problem is, Kid."

"The problem _is_, Blank, I'm dressed as a freaking woman!"

"Only cause Ruby's got the other female part! Besides, can you see me, Marcus, or Cinna dressed up as a lady prancing about the stage?"

Kuja glared at the red head and shoved the dress back at him. "I am not dressing up as a girl, and I am certainly not going to 'prance about the stage', either!"

The three guffawed at him, wiping fake tears from their eyes. Baku, also grinning from the doorway, chuckled, "Oh, but you know you secretly like it."

"I DO NOT!"

He let out a boisterous laugh, slapping his meaty hands on the thin boy's back, knocking the breath out of him. "Jus' be ready soon, _darlin'_. We're going to Alexandria to perform for the royals to celebrate their son or something-"

Cinna read off the invitation again. "'Your acting troupe is requested to perform at the Alexandrian castle in celebration of the adoption of Zidane til Alexandros-'"

"Zidane!" Kuja burst, ripping the letter away from him. His eyes frantically scanned the letter. "'The six-year-old was adopted as the prince consort four months ago a few weeks after her Highness, Princess Garnet's sixth birthday. We invite you to come and stage a play in recognition for the two as well as the newly signed peace treaty between Alexandria and Lindblum.' Zidane is my brother! How did he get all the way to Alexandria?"

Marcus cocked an eyebrow. "The new prince is your bro? Whoa, that's not something you hear everyday. Then let me guess, your sis is livin' with the Regents?"

He shook his head, astounded by the news. Zidane was now a prince? How was he going to get him back now? And just where was Mikoto, anyway? Kuja hadn't heard anything about his brother and sister until the letter, and it said nothing about Mikoto. She was only five, for crying out loud! What if she was never taken in and was living on the streets somewhere? What if Garland came and found her!

Blank shook his shoulders, snapping him back into reality. "Dude, calm down. Leave your bro to us. We'll get him back, alright? You just be sure to show off your pretty legs on stage, and-" he was cut off by a loose giggle.

Kuja pushed him away, crying out in disgust. "I hate having to play the girls!"

"Get some muscles, hun," Ruby suggested, "and lose the curves. Ya could pass fer my sister!"

He scowled at them all, then glared down at the dress presented to him. "I hate you all," he grumbled, snatching it away from Blank.

"Don't forget your corset!" Marcus shouted, inducing another round of giggling. He narrowly avoided the book thrown at his head.

((((()))))

Lady Hilda stepped back to beam at her adopted daughter, dressed in a golden dress that so complimented her golden hair and bright blue eyes. "You look marvelous, my dear!" she cried. "Oh, Cid! Come look at dear Mikoto!"

Cid sighed and came in, shrugging on his coat as went. "Beautiful, dearest. We need to hurry and get onboard the airship. If we don't leave now-"

"Oh, we won't be late! Tantalus hasn't even left yet anyway. Besides, this is Mikoto's first party! We have to make sure she looks perfect!"

Cid cocked an eyebrow at the girl, dismally staring at herself in the mirror. "Mother," she started, disdainfully picking at her trailing sleeves, "isn't this a bit… _too _dainty for a mere party?"

"Not at all, dear! We shall be with the King and Queen; your uncle and aunt! I cannot wait to tell them how we too have adopted a daughter. Garnet will be delighted to have a playmate!"

"Garnet?" Mikoto asked.

Hilda explained, "Garnet is Brahne's daughter, the princess and your cousin. She's only one year older than you. I'm sure you'll both be the best of friends!"

Cid impatiently pointed to a grandfather clock in Mikoto's room. "We must leave _now_, Hilda!"

She rolled her eyes and took Mikoto's hand. "Always so impatient!"

Mikoto sharply inhaled in surprise at the looming airship in the docks as they arrived. It looked almost like the Invincible, Garland's choice of transportation around Terra, which brought back many unwanted memories.

_This is the Invincible, an airship that truly lives up to its name. This orb on the deck is used to amplify one's power to decimate cities. Whenever you get older, you too shall be able to use this to wreak havoc upon Gaia in Terra's name! Watch, and I'll give you a demonstration. This area is an isolated city on the Outer continent, just south of the Iifa tree. Isn't the sound of screaming summoners delightful, you two?_

Mikoto shrank back to Hilda's side. "Are we really going to ride the airship?"

Cid and Hilda looked to her in surprise. "Of course, it's the fastest and easiest way to get to Alexandria. Why? Are you afraid of heights?"

She shook her head, still hesitant about stepping on board. Cid kneeled down to her level. "It's perfectly safe, Mikoto. I designed and built this particular airship myself. On the Fabool name, I swear it's perfectly safe."

"It doesn't have a red orb?" she asked.

Cid shook his head, wondering what she meant by a 'red orb'. "None at all."

Mikoto nodded, at ease once again. As she boarded the airship, Cid and Hilda exchanged worried looks. Whatever could make a child so fearful of a simple airship?

((((()))))

"P-Prince Zidane, p-please calm down-"

Steiner's plead had fallen on deaf ears. Zidane rushed over to the edge of the balcony, looking out over the gathering nobles below. "There're so many people, Steiner!" he awed. "Would you look at them all?"

The captain walked over, carefully leaning the boy away from the edge. "Yes, there are many people here, Prince Zidane. They are here to see the play, remember?"

He nodded. "Tarantula is coming to play just for me and Garnet."

"Tantalus, and it is 'Garnet and I'," Beatrix corrected him, walking out onto the balcony herself. "It truly is a marvelous crowd, Prince."

The three of them looked up as an airship started to descend near the stage. "That must be Tantalus now. I shall inform the King and Queen right away," Beatrix said, making her leave. "Also, Prince Zidane, her Majesty requested that you remain seated during the entirety of the play."

Zidane tossed her a grin. "Of course, Beatrix!"

That grin was so fake, he should have been part of Tantalus himself.

Beatrix couldn't help but roll her eyes as she walked off. Garnet was faithfully waiting by with her parents, still shy around Zidane for a reason unknown to her. Although he wasn't, Garnet couldn't shake the feeling that he was brash and rude, and that spending time near him would often result in a mess that would take a long time to clear up. Zidane just seemed to have that aura of adventure that made Garnet weary, but also feel… happy? Glad? Alive? She didn't exactly know how to describe it, but the thought of something else outside of the castle just seemed to entrance her. Traveling without an escort never every time you stepped out of the courtyard… it seemed impossible, but yet possible at the same time.

_How confusing,_ she thought in frustration. _Besides, I need to be more kind to him. He _is _my brother, after all._

Something else seemed to hit her, then. Zidane wasn't a brother- he was something more than that. But what? She had the feeling that he would do anything to keep her safe and happy, even rush straight into heartbreak himself.

Whatever was making her feel so nostalgic, she certainly wished it would go away. All of this was giving her a headache.

Beatrix walked back in and gave them the army's salute before saying, "Tantalus has just arrived by airship. And Prince Zidane appears to be anxious."

Brahne chuckled. "It's good to have some liveliness around the castle. Shall we start the celebration?"

Azurel nodded and led the way outside.

Steiner had somehow gotten Zidane into his seat and was now standing at the side of the door. He saluted as they too took their seats. Garnet looked over at Zidane, anxious for the play to begin. "This is your first time viewing a play, isn't it?" she knew she should have added "brother" after that, but it just seemed to foreign to her.

Zidane nodded. "Is it really so great that all of these people would come? I've never seen so many people before!"

Garnet laughed. "Of course!" she was about to say more, when a quiet, soft tune filled the air.

Both leaned forward to catch the soft twinkling sound that seemed to come from a music box. It abruptly stopped, and a man walked out on stage. "We of Tantalus welcome you, King Azural, Queen Brahne, Princess Garnet, Prince Zidane- Sir Steiner and Lady Beatrix- Lords and ladies, and our rooftop viewers."

The music started up again as he said, "Tantalus proudly brings you… _The Winter's Refrain_!"

The stage darkened and he disappeared from sight. On either side of the stage came out two girls, one with mint green hair, the other with bright silver-

Zidane sucked in a breath. Garnet, the only one to notice, looked over at him. "What's wrong?" she whispered.

He slowly shook his head. "N-nothing," he stuttered, "I'm alright."

She gave him one last questioning glance before turning back.

((((()))))

Mikoto, Hilda, and Cid sat on a balcony across from Zidane and Garnet, all three of them watching the play with rapt attention. There must have been a new actor, because before they couldn't ever pull off this play with only one female actor. Mikoto suddenly gasped, looking at the newest actor, a boy with bright silver hair. "Kuja?" she breathed.

Cid was startled to hear her. Mikoto was usually such a quiet girl, never speaking unless spoken to first. "What, Mikoto?"

She pointed to him on stage, dressed in a frilly dress much like her own. Any other occasion, and she was sure she would have laughed at the sight. But after what happened…. "That's Kuja. My brother."

The regents both shared a gaping face. "Y-your brother?" Cid stuttered. "That new boy with Tantalus? _He _is your brother?"

Mikoto nodded. "Kuja."

She kept in her seat, paying even more attention than before.

Cid stood, telling Mikoto that they would be back shortly, and led Hilda outside. In a hushed voice, Cid exclaimed, "What if Mikoto really was from Tantalus? That she was part of their 'family', or whatever they call themselves? She and that boy look nothing alike- they had to have been adopted by Baku!"

Hilda fretfully peered out between the purple curtains out at Mikoto. "But… if she were from Tantalus, Baku would have already sent out those boys to get her back."

"I know, which makes it all the more confusing!" Cid said, starting to pace the hallway. "Why didn't she tell us right away that she already had a home?"

"She was afraid, dear," Hilda quieted him down, stopping his brisk pace. "She's only a child. Lost outside in the snow, nearly freezing to death…. It's obvious her first thought would be to get warm. Perhaps she doesn't want to back to Tantalus. Mikoto calls us 'mother' and 'father' already!"

The regent frowned, taking a look himself at her. He shook his head. "We've already made everything official. As far as the continent knows, Mikoto _is _our daughter. She has our blonde hair, your blue eyes, and as long as she wears dresses all the time, no one will ever know she has a tail. Eventually she'll forget about the winter I found her, and she'll grow up only remembering being with us. Hopefully, she'll just think that she really is our daughter."

Hilda smacked his shoulder. "Don't say that! Of course Mikoto is legally our daughter, but we aren't going to brainwash the child to think she never had another home! No, we are going to find out where she came from- whether it be Tantalus or someplace else- and see to it she learns what happened!"

"I do know where I came from."

Cid and Hilda flinched back in surprise seeing Mikoto standing by. She continued, her face calm while theirs were anything but calm. "I came from Terra. My brothers and I left there by use of magic and I woke up in Lindblum, where you found me, Father. Kuja must have found Tantalus and has stayed with them. I do not know where my other brother is, but I am starting to think that it was more than just coincidence that the King's new son, having the same name as my brother's, is also Zidane. May I meet with them after the play?"

Still aghast at learning she had overheard everything, Cid numbly nodded. "…If they're family, we won't keep them from you."

She smiled and hugged them both. "Thank you."

Stunned, Hilda and Cid returned the gesture, and they walked back out onto the balcony. Cid looked over at where Princess Garnet and the new prince sat with the King and Queen. He certainly did look like Mikoto- they both had blonde hair and blue eyes- but that could have been strictly coincidence too. His eyes trailed down to Kuja on stage. His eyes were the same hue as Mikoto's, but other than that, they looked completely dissimilar. Could they really be brothers, as she said?

Still, seeing Mikoto happier than she'd been the past months with them, neither could dare stop her.

((((()))))

Kuja ripped the dress off as soon as his character was no longer needed for the rest of the play. Blank, Ruby, and Baku were currently out on stage, so he was left with only Marcus, Cinna, and Zenero twins. He rubbed off the makeup Ruby had slapped on during their ride to Alexandria and sourly sat down. "I am never doing that again. Ever!"

The four of them laughed, only fueling his irritation further. "But you did great," Cinna said honestly. "We made our rounds while the nobles were watching, and we've got enough gil here to last us 'till next winter!"

Marcus nodded and greedily prodded the bags of gil they had "acquired" on their rounds. "We'll be eating good tonight, that's for sure."

Kuja made a disgusted face. "As long as it isn't anymore gyshal pickles, I'd eat anything."

Cinna mirrored his face. "Pickles and Boss just don't mix."

"I'm sleeping on the roof, no matter the weather, next time he eats a whole barrel of 'em," Marcus swore.

They shuddered. "Make room, because we'll be with you."

Kuja silently got up while they exchanged horrific tales of Baku and pickles, and went over to the curtain, he barely opened it and peeked out up at Zidane, who seemed to be looking around in confusion for something. _Did he recognize me out there?_ he thought to himself. He turned to the balcony on the other side of the seated nobles. Between the regents was someone, but the person was too short for him to distinguish.

Marcus startled him as he said, "That's really your bro with the King and Queen, ain't it?"

He turned and nodded. "No doubt about it. Though they must have roped him to his seat; Zidane is never that still."

The four suddenly bolted to the stage as cries filled the area. Kuja burst outside, his sapphire eyes widening at the sight before him. In a staggering height in the twilight sky stood an old man with a beard down to his feet dressed in pale mustard yellow robes and a staff that appeared to be only a simple stick, but Kuja knew from the magic it emanated that it was far from a mere twig.

Ramuh's voice boomed like thunder across the sky as he spoke. "I come with a great foreboding! Thus is the prophecy of the Eidolons: Soon shall a man come from the heavens seeking to present a gift of ruin and despair onto Gaia."

__

Garland!

Kuja thought. His fists clenched the hem of his shirt, turning his knuckles white. _Don't tell me he's going to come back for Zidane and Mikoto!_

Ramuh continued, either unaware or ignoring the fearful looks of the three genomes. "He will come as a sheep in wolf's clothing- he shall come to deceive and destroy, and all from his mouth he speaks shall be lies and bribery with no intention of fulfilling its promise of riches." The thunder Eidolon turned to Kuja on stage, who had gone white as a sheet. Seeing his stormy gaze turned upon him, he now felt as if he were going to faint. "You may have saved two lives, boy, but you've brought us into turmoil. Only you three Terrans can save us now."

Zidane and Mikoto jumped up and shouted, "Kuja!"

Surprised, they turned to each other and gasped, "Zidane!" "Mikoto!"

The nobles, down below, immediately went into a frenzy. "Not a true heir to the Fabool name!" "They have brought us ruin!" "The boy is a devil!" "The prince must be a monster!"

Kuja staggered back at hearing their jeering cries. _Devil! Monster!_

He shook his head and put his hands on his ears, trying to no avail to block out their hate. "I-I'm not…," he whimpered. "I'm not!"

Ignoring the stunned looks of his Tantalus brothers, Kuja ran back behind stage, running away.

__

You failure! You're nothing but a nuisance that needs to be terminated! So much potential to be wasted on a pitiful excuse for a creation! However could I have made such a flawed specimen? You're nothing but worthless trash! Don't touch me, you filth!

"I'M NOT!" he shouted, now in the castle, still running as fast as his legs could go. Screaming servants, frightful at the sight of the so-called monster, didn't slow him down in the least. Kuja shoved past them all, determined to keep running away from it all until his knees crumpled beneath him.

The sky was just starting to make its transition into an inky blackness dotted with glimmering diamonds as he burst into the castle's garden.

Crying out as his foot got caught in a stray flower bed, Kuja came to crashing stop, landing in the dirt. "I'm not…. I'm not worthless. I'm not a monster. _I'm just trying to save them_."

((((()))))

"P-Princess Garnet!"

Beatrix and Steiner both dove to catch the girl as she passed out, Steiner reaching her first. Queen Brahne grabbed Zidane's hand and dragged him back inside the safe confines of the castle, until only his sobs were heard. King Azural, carrying the princess came in soon after. "Steiner," he ordered in a stony voice, "contain them, and tell them that if they _dare _say such a thing about my son again, I'll have them sent to the guillotine." He turned to Beatrix, standing ready to be given her orders. "Make sure Cid and Hilda get inside. Find that one boy and get him in here before they find him. And, for the love of all that is good, _tell those mongrels to be silent_!"

"Yes, sir!" they saluted, rushing outside.

Zidane stood shaking, the queen's large arms crushing him against her. "Don't listen to them," she murmured, rubbing his back. "Ramuh certainly didn't mean-"

"But it's true…."

Brahne barely heard the boy. "What?"

He looked up at her with a distraught expression. "It's true. We… Mikoto and I, we made Kuja take us away from Garland. I never thought he'd want us back! And now we've started all of this trouble, and… and…!" He merely collapsed into her arms, sobbing. "I'm sorry!" he cried into elegant dress. "W-we didn't mean to!"

Azural's face was stony and white, yet he held Garnet close with a gentleness unbefitting the King's enraged expression. "Let's get these two into bed and-"

"No!" Zidane burst pushing away from Brahne. "I wanna be with Kuja and Mikoto!"

"We've sent Steiner and Beatrix to-" Azural started.

His face only got paler when Zidane interrupted him. _No one _interrupted the king. "I don't care if they do find them! We're gonna run away, and no one is going to be able to find us ever again! Not Garland, not them, not… not even you two!"

Zidane wrenched off the stupid hat he'd been given along with the annoying bow that tickled his neck and the jacket and vest that made him feel as if he were cooking inside a stove. Left in only a white shirt and pants along with his shoes, he burst down the hallway.

"Promise me one thing…," Garnet murmured, still limp in her adoptive father's arms. "Please come back."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3- Dream of the Thousands**

"_This is a land called "Gaia". The mist covering this continent- well-named the Mist Continent- is where Summoners once summoned a mighty being called an eidolon. It proved to be too powerful for the weak Gaians, and they sealed it away into a gemstone. The stone was broken into four shards- three given to the ruling families of the Mist Continent, the final kept by the Summoners. They then left with their shard to a place called Madain Sari, which I destroyed as a demonstration just last week."_

_Zidane meekly raised his hand. "Um… Master Garland?"_

"_Yes, Zidane?" he sighed tightly, fearing some new speech from the boy._

_He stuttered out, "What do the gem shards look like? Are they big? What color? Are they pretty?"_

_Garland blinked in surprise. He was actually taking some interest in something he was being taught? "Well… they are almost the size of your fist when put together. As for the color, I'm not sure, seeing as how I do not know what type of gem it is. The latter… I will not answer that question."_

_Zidane made a face of disgust. "But what if it's an ugly rock? Who's to say the three ruling families didn't just toss it somewhere because of how bad it looked?"_

_Garland stared at the genome a moment. He then palmed himself and muttered something under his breath. At the sound of two giggles, Garland removed his hand and glared at the two._

_Zidane and Mikoto went silent._

_The Time Lord cleared his throat. "May I inquire as to why you are so intrigued by this, Zidane?"_

_He mulled it over a moment, even taking Mikoto, who had thought he had asked as a joke, by surprise. "I guess… because it seems familiar. We don't have a shard of Alexander here, do we?"_

"_No, they're only found on Gaia. But, familiar? How so?"_

_Zidane thought again, trying to find the right words. Finally, after a long moment, he simply said, "Dagger," and was silent the rest of the lesson._

Dagger? _Garland thought, confused by his weird behavior. Zidane was usually never like this- so quiet and reserved, and actually seeming _interested _for once. Was he finally starting to get his way into the boy's mind?_

_Garland simply decided that this was a good sign, and didn't further invoke the matter._

_Suddenly, right as Garland ended the lesson, a thought occurred to him. How did Zidane know the eidolon was Alexander? He stared after the boy as he skipped away, dragging Mikoto along behind him._

((((()))))

"Zidane?"

He opened his eyes, a blurry figure before him. It finally cleared out to be a head of golden hair with a small face and bright, piercing blue eyes- the face of his sister. "Mikoto!" he cried, grabbing her around the neck in a fierce hug.

She let out a twinkling laugh and let him try to twirl her around in the air. The action only sent them both to the ground, laughing like mad.

Beatrix barely opened the door to check in on them, a soft grin on her face as well. _We have no doubt of them being family now. _The general softly shut the door on their laughter- it would wake up the whole castle, but they needed their fun.

Because what would come next certainly wouldn't be fun at all.

((((()))))

Kuja had been found and was sent to bed hours ago, but not once did his eyes shut in peaceful slumber. Erratic thoughts and memories kept him wide awake, although he faked sleep whenever someone popped by to see how he fared. He fared just _awful_, but he wasn't about to jeopardize what Zidane and Mikoto had. While he lived in a measly house of thieves, they both lived in palaces.

It was only natural, of course, since they were the perfect ones and he was the failure.

Kuja didn't dare hold anything against them. It wasn't at all their fault, but Garland's. His fist clenched tight as the old man's name crossed his mind. He was the cause of all of this. He was out to turn his little brother and sister into murderous monsters and destroy Gaia, where he had finally found a decent home. Garland was the monster. Not him.

A screech of laughter caught his ear. Kuja sat up, recognizing those giggles from anywhere. A smile crept up on his face.

Quietly, he slipped out of bed and opened the room's window.

Being with Tantalus taught him many things, escape and a grand entrance being the least of them. He deftly caught onto a stray vine growing along the wall and started to climb across. When he found the window leading to their room, he let out a rapt knock, putting his best silly face on. Zidane and Mikoto simultaneously crowed, "Kuja!" and raced to yank open the window. He barely had time to jump in before they threw him into the frenzy.

None of them quieted in the least as the door opened again and revealed a clanking knight. Steiner gaped as Zidane turned and hurled himself at him. "Steiner!"

"P-Prince Zidane-?"

Mikoto skipped up to him next, cheerfully waving at him. "Hello, I am Mikoto!"

Steiner blinked. "Uh… hello, um, Princess Mikoto."

He finally looked up at Kuja, who wasn't about to spring up like his siblings. At least he had found him. "Ah, I've found you at last."

"Didn't Boss tell you I'd probably go here first?" he asked, trying his hardest to keep the smug smile off his face. He wasn't sure why, but he just had the feeling that Steiner was a bumbling idiot very far beneath his standards. Kuja shook his head before the knight could stutter out a response. "Never mind. I'm Kuja, but I think you already know that."

Steiner dumbly nodded.

Kuja continued, "They aren't making too loud of a racket, are they?"

"Hey," Zidane interrupted, turning to him with a sour look. "You're the one who's the loudest, Kuja!"

"Really?" Zidane yelped as Kuja grabbed his sides and tickled him mercilessly. Kuja went to Mikoto, off guard because of laughing at Zidane.

"St-stop, Kuja!" she giggled, unable to stop.

He only laughed. So what if the knight was still in the doorway, staring at them with such a bewildered expression. If he wanted to stand and gawk, then let him. Kuja wasn't about to let him ruin their fun when they had finally gotten the chance to have it.

Seeing their faces lit up with smiles was a lot better than seeing their terrified, sorrowful faces.

"_Garland really isn't going to take you away, is he?"_

_Kuja forced his head to shake. "No."_

_Zidane crawled out from under his bed, helping Mikoto come out. "You're sure? You're not going to leave us alone?"_

_Again, a hollow shake of his head. "Of course not. I'm going to look out for you two. You're not going to be alone."_

Kuja's smile faltered as the sounds of screams permeated through the castle walls. Steiner, alarmed and battle ready, grabbed his sword hilt and ushered the three out into the hall.

He quickly rushed into another room and brought out a sleepy Garnet. "All of you, go to the throne room. Quickly, now!"

Zidane grabbed Dagger's hand and zoomed off, calling for Kuja and Mikoto to follow him. "What's going on?" Garnet mumbled, rubbing her eyes with her free hand.

He shook his head, unable to hide the fear. Garnet could only see the back of his golden mussed hair, so Kuja instead said, "Something's wrong."

Garnet fearfully looked up at him with a look of terror. Zidane took notice, and reconciled her by saying, "This is my brother, Kuja. He isn't going to hurt you." As he said it, he felt his mouth go dry, like he was telling her that puppies were vicious monsters ready to tear apart Gaia. But he knew it wasn't a lie. If Kuja was willing to do anything for them, why would adding Garnet be any different?

To Kuja, it _was _a lot different. Not only did he have an erratic brother and a little sister susceptible to anything, but a _princess_ now to take care of.

"Yo, Kuja!"

Marcus waved him over from a cracked door- the docking bay for airships. Kuja herded the children over to the thief. "What's going on, Marcus?" he asked quietly.

Outside, the echoing _boom_ of a cannon rang out through the erratic night. In response, he only pulled him inside. Garnet stared around at wonder at all of Tantalus; Baku yelling out hurried orders to prepare the airship, Blank and Cinna loading everything they could possibly find, Ruby with the monarchies, trying to explain their getaway; the Zenero twins rushed up to Marcus and Kuja.

King Azural ran over to Garnet and knelt down to her. "Are you alright, my dear?" He turned to Zidane and Mikoto. "No one is hurt?"

"Captain Steiner and I got them out," Kuja said.

The king sighed in relief. "Has Steiner gone to the battlefield already?"

Kuja really had no idea, but he nodded anyway. He was captain of the Knights of Pluto- it only seemed right he'd go to battle. Kuja finally realized something. Battle. "What's going on outside, Your Majesty?" he asked, getting down to business.

Azural's eyes flickered to Garnet, Zidane, and Mikoto. "Children, why don't you go sit with Queen Brahne?"

_That bad?_ Kuja thought with fear, his mouth going dry. _Is Garland…?_

Once they were out of earshot, the king murmured, "Burmecia is attacking us. It seems they didn't take too well to Ramuh's message."

Kuja couldn't help but sigh in relief. "Then Garland hasn't found us."

"We're under a full city lockdown!" Azural burst. "Dragoons have been trying to break into the kingdom for almost half an hour now, and it seems King Renas isn't worried of employing the cannons, regardless of civilians! You three and Garnet must get out of here right away!"

"We'll just go with Tantalus, and-" Kuja's eyes widened. "Wait- did you say Garnet?"

King Azural turned back to his daughter, standing beside Cid, who seemed to be telling them a story to keep their minds away from the attack. "Yes. The castle will be under siege, soon. But once Renas realizes you three are not here, he will leave. He is a man of war, but not one of needless destruction. Although tonight's actions are quite unbecoming of him…."

"Awright you youngins!" Baku's thunderous voice boomed out. "All of ya on the ship right away!"

Brahne ushered Garnet, Zidane, and Mikoto off towards the airship, her face masking the fear in her. "They'll be safe," Kuja found himself promising. Somehow, that seemed like a lie. Garland would never stop searching for his two angels, would never stop until he finally did away with his defect. If the Burmecians were so angered by Ramuh's prophecy, it seemed they too wouldn't stop until the three genomes were gone for good.

Kuja ran on board, heading straight for the engine room, where Baku had drilled him to be should there be a hasty get away. He was good with airships' engines and such, he had found out after a few trips around the Mist Continent, so Baku had made sure he was around in case the engines overheated from a quick escape. Cinna would be at the wheel, being the best at maneuvering the ship through a tight spot. Blank had the job of navigating their way, and Marcus, Ruby, and the twins would be the messenger boys (and girl) between the three, relaying orders from the Boss as to what needed work or otherwise.

Kuja shouldn't have been so surprised to see Zidane, Mikoto, and Garnet come bounding up to him. "Kuja, what're you doing down here?" Zidane asked right away.

"I'm making sure the engines don't blow up."

Mikoto's blue eyes widened. "Blow up?"

"That'd be so cool," Zidane said, just as wide-eyed as his sister.

Kuja rolled his eyes. "Not to make you seem unwanted, but go up on deck and pester Marcus."

Zidane took Garnet's hand and nodded. "Alrighty, Kuja! Let's go, Garnet!"

But Mikoto stood fast to her spot. Cocking her head, she asked, "Can I stay down here and help you?"

He wasn't really sure if that was the best idea. Baku had warned him of the steam running through the pipes- "Just cause they don't run the ship doesn't mean they ain't hot enough to scald yer face off."-and if one burst, there was no telling if Kuja could get Mikoto out of the way in time. Yet her eyes were big and pleading.

Maybe agreeing to her wasn't his crowning moment.

Mikoto trailed behind Kuja as he ducked in and out of walls of pipes, checking each valve and explaining what each was for. Most he simply made up, since he was unsure they actually _did _have a purpose, but Mikoto was satisfied with whatever answer he gave her.

Baku's voice rumbled down into the massive room, but Kuja couldn't make it out. "What?" he shouted back, weaving his way back to the door.

"I _said _that them two kids're driving me insane! Either keep 'em down here or I'll duct tape 'em and throw 'em in a closet somewhere!" Baku burst, wrenching a giggling Zidane and a blushing Garnet out in front of him. "If they weren't s' darn cute, I'd have thrown 'em off…," he left with a mumble.

Zidane only grinned at Kuja's unamused gaze. "I said to bother Marcus. Not Boss."

The little blond troublemaker only shrugged. "I didn't know who was who."

Oh, he most certainly did, and they all knew it.

"I apologize," Garnet quietly said, looking up at him. "We shouldn't have bothered him."

As it was, Mikoto wasn't the only one with the power to sucker Kuja. He frowned, suddenly feeling like he was the one in trouble. "It's alright," he sighed. "Just… stay down here and keep quiet. And Zidane, DON'T TOUCH _ANYTHING_."

((((()))))

Kuja's first thought was _Zidane touched something_ when the alarms blared, just a few minutes after the two were mercilessly thrown into the engine room. But Zidane was right where he had been, eyes darting around for what had gone wrong now.

"Stay here," Kuja ordered, running off to recheck each valve again.

"Rev up the power!" Marcus shouted down below.

The genome quickly found the problem. "Engine three's overheating!" he shouted back. "Get the twins down here with some water! Tell Cinna to take it slow a while!"

"We can't," he insisted, running down the clanking metal steps. "Burmecia's catching up with us."

"What!" Kuja burst, poking his head out from behind a massive wall of pipes. "How!"

Marcus only shrugged, already turning back to relay the newest dilema. "Boss's orders. Fire it up; I'll get some water down here quick!"

"Zidane," Kuja started slowly, "find Ruby, a girl with light green hair, and tell her to take you three to a room. You can play, but do not leave that room."

He took Mikoto and Garnet's hands. "Okay. Kuja?"

"Yes?"

"I don't want to go back to Garland. I like it in Gaia."

And then he bound up the stairs, the girls stumbling after him.

The squeal of steam bursting from a pipe shook Kuja from his thoughts. "MARCUS!" he yelled over the screeching noise. Kuja grabbed the large brass valve and tried to turn it clockwise in an attempt to cut off the steam. One part of the ship could go without heat for a little while, he figured.

The ship made a sudden jerk, making Kuja fall. The echoing sounds of shouts from above deck were barely heard over the steam still spewing out from that pipe. Kuja pushed himself off the ground and turned it all the way off.

Another jerk, and he slammed into another valve. Steam spewed out from above him from turning it accidentally, and the airship took a sudden dive. The boiling steam hit his shoulder, scalding through his sleeve and burning the skin underneath. Kuja tried to ignore the pain and twisted it off before stumbling back to the door. It seemed Marcus and the others were too occupied to bother with the engine room.

The next jerk cut off most of the lights- they must of have been hit. Kuja grabbed his arm and ran up on deck, where all was chaos. He didn't see the kids anywhere- they must have finally listened to him and found somewhere to hide on board. "Boss," he started, rushing over. "Engine three's completely busted. It's all haywire down there, and anymore speed and we'll likely fall out of the sky."

Boss's face was grim, but there was a spark in his eye. "Exactly my kind of adventure." He called over Ruby to patch up his arm and went up to take the wheel from Cinna. "Hang on, ya'll! This's gonna be the ride of yer lives!"

Everyone fell to the floor save Boss, who whooped in glee and spun the ship around. "Try'n follow this, ya rats!"

Kuja clamped his eyes shut.

_The ride to _end _our lives, you mean._

**And… chapter three is finally here! School. Algebra. Science. Spanish. No hora. Comprende? Yes, my freshman year is slowly killing me because I'm in about five advanced classes that juniors would be taking (three seniors are in my math class). I'm sorry that my eyeballs have been filled to the brim with homework, and that updates are going to get MUCH slower.**

**Anyway, please leave a nice review to prove that school hasn't killed my reviewers. That would be greatly appreciated. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4- Transience**

Garnet dreamed.

In her dream, she was with two people. But their faces were shadowed and blurry, and she couldn't tell who they were. Both were mostly blue blobs, one being around four feet tall (which she found to be very odd), the other the height of one of her mother's maids, seventeen-year-old Adelaide. The taller one, she knew, was a good friend. Maybe even one of the best. The shorter one was a good friend too, and Garnet felt like she could have hugged him for no reason.

The three of them were searching for something in a forest. She, like the taller boy, looked about sixteen, and had the prettiest long hair clipped at the bottom with a golden clasp. It almost looked like the one her mother had in her jewelry box back at the castle.

Garnet slowly started to remember a story. It was a tragedy- Garnet's least favorite kind of story. About a man named Joseph, Garnet knew it wasn't a story her maids had read to her before bedtime or one that Doctor Tot had read to her during her studies.

There were two endings to the story, but she couldn't quite remember them. She did, however, know they had two separate lessons to them: the first ending was that no matter how much you did in life, how great or little a hero you had been, all that mattered was that you had the journey. The other was that sometimes heroes couldn't do everything they wanted to, but they tried their best, so it was okay.

She didn't know why, but she felt the two lessons could pertain to her in some way. That was crazy, because she had never been heroic. In fact, she had never seen nor heard of a _real_ hero. The only heroes she knew were from her books.

Slowly, the dream began to fizzle away into reality, leaving Garnet with another feeling of nostalgia as the boys blurred into black. Her older self in the dream started to cry as first the tall boy faded to black, then the shorter one did. Both of them had a smile on their faces- at least, she somehow knew they were smiling.

As Garnet slowly came to, her fingers brushed her cheek to find actual tears. It was silly to be crying over a dream, especially one that hadn't even been frightening. But still…. It had all seemed real; the boys, and the pain of seeing them go.

She had a gnawing sense that she'd never get to meet these two boys again.

((((()))))

Mikoto's first thought upon waking up was, _Was I able to get to my brothers in time?_ Then, taking a moment to think it over, she realized there wasn't a drastic need to find Kuja and Zidane before something bad happened. She pushed herself off the dirty ground and looked around in bewilderment. Somehow, she had expected to see an arid landscape and a great tree instead of the lush forest she found herself in.

"Zidane?" Mikoto quietly dared to call out. "Kuja?"

She gasped as something beside her wriggled.

"Ohh, m' head…."

Mikoto scooted back, eyes wide and fixed on the dark figure before her. "Someone there?" the accented voice asked, turning to face her.

Both Mikoto and Ruby sighed in relief to see they weren't facing a fiend. "You're Kuja's lil' sis, aren't ya?" Ruby asked, beckoning her over. "Are ya hurt? Gosh, Boss's a maniac when he flies the Vista."

"I am fine," Mikoto said quietly.

"No need to be all proper; ya'll're with the thieves now." Ruby frowned and stood, brushing herself off. "An' speakin' of the thieves, I ain't seen 'em. Have you, Mikayla?"

"My name is Mikoto," she corrected, "not Mikayla. And I just woke up. You are the first person I've seen."

The twelve-year-old's frown was more pronounced now as she observed, "Looks like we ain't near civilization. And neither o' us seem the fightin' type, eh? Darn them rats."

Mikoto also looked around to further take in the lush forest. She couldn't help but shiver at the growing shadows from within the treeline as twilight fell over them. Ruby seemed to have the same dire thought the young genome had, and the older girl put her arm around Mikoto's thin shoulders. "We'll go lookin' for the boys, 'kay?"

Ruby stared uncertainly into the forest before letting out a shrill scream.

((((()))))

Before any growing worry hit him, the first thought on Zidane's mind was, _That… was AWESOME!_ The six year old easily hopped to his feet. He stumbled for a moment, feeling like the crash had jarred his brain, then ran over to the leather and silver blob that could only have been his brother. Kuja was awake, but his eyes were clamped shut and his hand clenching at his torn, bloodied sleeve. "Zidane?" he choked out as he skidded to a stop next to him.

Zidane went pale seeing his brother in pain. He swallowed hard and took a step back, accidentally kicking Baku in the arm. The goggled man moaned and lifted himself to his feet. "Where did we land?" Baku gruffly asked, sneezing at once. Boss noticed Kuja too. "Kiddo! What nicked ya?"

"Steam," Kuja said, trying his hardest not to look in pain for Zidane's sake. But the blonde wasn't paying attention to his face anymore. Just his bloody shoulder. "Hey, Zidane?" he croaked, hating how his voice sounded. "How about you go find Mikoto and Garnet for me. Don't go too far, okay?"

Once Zidane bounded off, the blank expression on his face bringing back far too many bad memories for Kuja's taste, he fought the urge to cry out and sat up. "When the ship lurched like that," Kuja explained, slowly moving his hand away to his side. He didn't want to look down and see the blood. "Is the Vista…?"

Baku frowned and shook his head. "She's done for. Looks like we may be at Pinnacle Rocks, so we're next to Lindblum. We can drop the royals off with the Regents for a while to give Burmecia some time to cool down. Geez, attacking out of the blue ain't like the rats at all."

Kuja's eyes went wide. "It's… _not like them_…."

The next thing that came out of his mouth was not something he would have wanted Zidane or Mikoto to hear. "This is all Garland's fault!" Kuja fumed, struggling to his feet. "Darn it!" he made sure to say, seeing a distraught Zidane and teary Garnet running up to them.

"Zidane. Where's Mikoto?" Kuja demanded, sounding more harsh than he wanted to.

He flinched. "I-I don't know. I didn't see her."

"BOYS! GET YER LAZY BUTTS UP! _NOW_!" Baku shouted, throwing his cracked goggles to the ground. "That Garland guy is the one Ramuh warned us about, right?" Baku asked in between frenetic bellows.

Kuja's frustrated response was cut off by a sharp scream. Now it was Baku's time to spew inappropriate language.

Blank's fiery head popped up from behind a fallen chunk of the Vista's hull. "Was that Ruby?" he asked, pawing his way out from under the debris. "Boss, I've gotta go find her and-"

"Let's get going," Kuja snapped. "I have to look for Mikoto."

"No way, man." Blank shook his head, looking at the awful burn. "Stay behind here. I'll take…. Yo, Marcus! Cinna! Get over here and let's get after Ruby."

Blank took off his brown headband and tossed it to Kuja. "Wrap up your arm with that. Don't know where any real bandages are yet."

And before Kuja could say anything- to thank him, to stop him, to even properly freak out over the whereabouts of his sister- the three were gone.

((((()))))

Mikoto had let out a yelp herself when Ruby had first started her crazy screaming. She only ceased her shrieks when something from the shadows of the trees started emerge. Both sighed in relief to see the shape was humanoid. "'Bout time you lumps came to find us!" Ruby burst, simply too overjoyed to sound angry, or even annoyed.

But her happy smile quickly switched into a frown when an old man stepped out. Warily, Ruby, scooted an inert Mikoto behind her. Mikoto grabbed the back of Ruby's shirt and buried her face in her back, whimpering. "Jus' who're you?" Ruby challenged, misinterpreting Mikoto's fear.

"Don't," Mikoto pleaded into her shirt. "Don't make him mad."

"You should listen to my girl, asinine Gaian."

His very voice froze Ruby in place- literally. He had some sort of magic, and she couldn't move because of it.

Garland glowered back at Mikoto. "Come out, Mikoto. Now."

With her hands shaking, she released Ruby's shirt. She took a hesitant step forward, then stopped. "Wh-what're you going to do to me, Garland?"

The Time Lord's response took her by surprise. "I am bringing you home. You have no place on Gaia, child. You belong on Terra as you were always meant to." Even more to her surprise, Garland didn't forcibly drag her over with his telekinesis.

"…What about Zidane?"

"I'll come back for him in time," he assured her.

Mikoto turned her still-terrified gaze back to Ruby, a frozen pillar of indignation and urge to reach out and snap at Garland's beckoning hand.

Her blue eyes were fixed directly on Garland's obsidian boots as, her lip trembling, she softly said, "No."

Then Blank jumped.

"Get away from her, you scumbag!" the redhead snarled, tackling into Garland. The old man was taken by surprise, but he quickly got his bearings and threw Blank off. Swiveling around, Garland caught Marcus and Cinna mid-leap with his telekinesis. He threw them into the cliff side, making Mikoto shriek when they both fell to the ground with a heavy _thud_.

Ruby was now free, and she was quite angry. She let out a cry and hurled a nearby rock at Garland. Mikoto ran over to Blank, spitting out his hair from his mouth. The thief was not very happy at being thrown into the mud. Blank pushed Mikoto behind him and said, "Straight through the woods, you'll see the Vista. Don't freak out, just tell Baku we need some backup."

He took off, another futile attempt at battling Garland thwarted when he was thrown into the cliff like Marcus and Cinna.

Mikoto ran harder than she ever had before, fear filling her veins with adrenaline. She wasn't even aware she had stopped until Baku shook her shoulders, demanding to know what was going on. Zidane pulled her away and asked, "Who screamed? Are you okay? Kuja thinks-"

"Garland's back!" she burst.

Kuja's breath froze in his throat. "…No," he murmured. "I… I won't let him get you two." Mikoto turned from Zidane and grabbed Kuja's arm. "I won't," he repeated, knowing it was just an empty promise. There was no way he could stand against Garland. The somewhat-family he had in Tantalus would be killed mercilessly, Zidane and Mikoto would be taken back to Terra, and Kuja…. He didn't want to think about it. "Baku, go see if Blank and the others are alright. I'll get them somewhere safe."

Tantalus's leader hesitated, then, after giving Zidane a lookover, nodded. "You've got a bona-fide Tantalus man and a prince to look after you two, girls. Listen and do what they tell you to, got it?"

Garnet and Mikoto didn't nod, but Baku wasn't going to stand around and wait for them to. He took off running into the forest.

Kuja pointed to a Zidane-Mikoto-and-Garnet sized hole in the Prima Vista. "You three hide in there, alright? Don't come out, no matter what happens. Go!"

"How chivalrous," the old voice intoned behind Kuja, terror freezing him in place. Maybe there was a reason Terra was a word similar to terror. "Save the angels and the wretch, sacrifice yourself."

Garland's heavy obsidian boots echoed numbly in his head. "I had plans to use you," he told me, his voice forcing me to turn and meet him. "Plans that involved you alive. Pity you didn't stick around long enough to gain purpose."

"I'm not a failure," Kuja spat.

"Say whatever you like. It won't change the course of fate."

"Fate isn't set in stone, Garland, and I'm sure it doesn't want me dead just yet. You'll have to be patient, old man."

Kuja blinked at the snappy response that had just came from his mouth. It somehow seemed normal to snap like that, to hide his fear behind a smirk and a curt laugh. Whatever the nostalgic feeling was, it seemed to take Garland by surprise as well. Kuja put his hands on his hips and smirked. "Well, Garland? Cat got your tongue?"

Garland reached out his hand. An invisible hand grabbed Kuja's throat, erasing the nostalgia and replacing it with old fear. "I may have use for you yet, if that is the case. It all depends upon you this round, anyway. Perhaps Terra may yet have a chance."

He threw Kuja off to the side and turned his attention to the hiding children. "Mikoto, my patience is beginning to wear thin with you. Come out, and I may spare your brothers' lives."

Zidane grabbed her arm as she moved to go with him. "Don't listen to him, Mikoto. Kuja has a plan."

_What plan would that be, Zidane? _Kuja bitterly thought, standing up for round two. Garland purposely ignored him, sticking out his hand. "Now, Mikoto. I don't have all day to play this silly game. Come now with me, or I will kill them all."

"Like you've not planned to kill us when you assimilate Gaia?" Kuja burst, grabbing a rock that wasn't very big- but then again, he was a pretty small kid with an injured arm. "Who's to say Terra won't be able to survive this next assimilation? What if it ends in failure again, like last time?"

"You told him your lessons?" Garland growled to Zidane and Mikoto.

His tail bristled in indignation. "Now I'm too stupid to figure this all out on my own?"

"You have a place in all this, but don't expect it to be something of legend. You're merely a pawn in the grand scheme of things. As for Terra…." Garland chuckled. "My plan is infallible this time. Mikoto. Now."

She clamped her eyes shut and pulled her arm free. "I'm sorry, Zidane."

Zidane tried to take off after her, but Garnet put her arms around his waste and pulled him back. "Don't! Don't leave me! You can't!" _You won't come back._

Kuja jumped to grab Mikoto, but Garland's magic bounced him back. "Enjoy your Gaian years," Garland said, looking up through the cloudy sky to the Invincible hanging near. A red beam shot down from the sky, sucking Garland and Mikoto up to the ship.

"Mikoto!" Zidane yelled, trying his best to break free from Garnet's iron grip. "No!"

The blonde girl turned her face away from her heartbroken brother.

"I'm sorry…."

**So our lovely plot thickens! I'll try and update this story more often, now that I've gotten the writing bug for it (you have you tube to thank, naturally).**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ah, once again, we get see me butcher some old English and prove exactly why I'm no poet. No excuses for being late- I just apologize for being so dang lazy and getting too caught up in my Art homework. (Seriously, why the heck did I spend all afternoon on that stupid homework assignment? I'll never get 100... *Sigh*)**

**Please R&R!**

**Chapter 5- Complications**

**Several years later…**

It was routine. Get up, avoid stepping on someone's "bounty" scattered on the floor, and head to the kitchen to beat the others to the coffee.

For them, it was also routine. Wake up to fancy clothing, an elegant breakfast, and then go straight to the library for lessons from Dr. Tot.

Neither Kuja nor Zidane enjoyed this routine. The sloppy, free-reign life of a thief, where you had to stick up for yourself or perish, and the orderly, strict life of a prince who couldn't afford to make mistakes. Worse than the lives they led, it was hard to find free time together when so many nobles looked to their prince and princess as elegant dolls being fitted for future rulers who shouldn't frequent with the likes of street rats.

And Kuja greatly hated being called a rat.

It was January fifteenth, a day known to most as Princess Garnet til Alexandros XVII's birthday, and Tantalus was hired as they annually were to perform _I Want to be Your Canary_ at the castle.

So today was not as routine as it usually was. After waking up far earlier than everyone else and getting a decent amount of caffeine in, Kuja went ahead to the Prima Vista to check their supplies off. The costumes were in order, the props already set up on deck, and Kuja could hear the moans and grumblings of Tantalus as they awoke. For once, Kuja didn't have to wear a skirt in the play, which made _I Want to be Your Canary _his favorite as well.

The band came over some time past noon, and the boisterous sound of instruments filled the hideout. Conversations were hard to carry across the room while gathering empty money bags and changing into costumes with music blasting in their ears, so the troupe was nearly silent (save the occasional argument and brief fights that broke out).

When at last four o'clock came, Kuja and the others set out for Alexandria.

((((()))))

"I'm afraid I must pull you two apart for a moment," Beatrix chuckled when she found her prince and princess sitting together outside on the pier. "Her Majesty wishes to see you, Princess."

She carefully stood, balancing herself in her too-high heels. Garnet nodded and was promptly on her way. Zidane stood up after she left, brushing his clothes off. "How are you, Beatrix?" he asked.

She smiled and replied, "I am just fine, Prince. But there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Ask away."

"What did Ramuh mean back then? When he appeared during Tantalus's performance. The day you arrived in the throne room, he humbly asked us to protect you. Yet at the play-"

Zidane interrupted her. Beatrix sighed at how lousy his manners still were after all these years. "I don't know what Ramuh meant, but Kuja thinks Garland had control over him somehow. I'm not sure I remember exactly, but I believe the Invincible had some power over the eidolons. Or perhaps Ramuh had something to gain by frenzying the nobles that day. Perhaps it was the only way to get us together and to Pinnacle Rocks."

Beatrix frowned. "I simply cannot trust him. At the very least, Prince, I ask you to be wary of him should you meet again."

He frowned, knowing why. Ramuh's interference led them to Pinnacle Rocks, where Mikoto….

Where he last saw Mikoto.

The general didn't apologize- Zidane wouldn't have wanted her to. He often told her and anyone else not to apologize for someone else's mistakes. Sometimes Beatrix had to remember that Zidane not only had a heart of gold, but a philosophical outlook on life that no one else could fully understand.

"Is that all you wanted to ask, Beatrix?" he asked, sounding weary.

"Yes. Tantalus should be here within the hour, but Her Majesty requested that you be on the balcony before they start the play. She also requested-"

"-that I not find trouble," Zidane finished for her in a forced chuckle. "I will stay on my best behavior, Beatrix. If you see Mother, please tell her that."

When he spun away on his heel and rushed off towards the Prima Vista's docking site, Beatrix sighed and shook her head.

Sometimes a heart of gold can loose its shine.

((((()))))

"You wanted to see me, Mother?"

Queen Brahne gave her daughter a smile and rose up from her throne. The empty seat beside her, remained untouched for many years now, radiated a loneliness that brought a frown to both Brahne and Garnet. King Azural had fallen ill with the same sickness as his blood-daughter, the first and true Princess Garnet. Not long after Garnet's tenth birthday did he pass away.

"Yes. Before the madness concerning the play pulls us away, I wanted to wish you a happy birthday," the queen said, smiling. "Sixteen. How have you gotten so old without my knowing?"

Garnet returned her grin and dipped her head. "Thank you, Mother."

But Brahne suddenly sighed. "I've waited long enough I suppose."

"Mother?"

"What do you remember about the day Ramuh brought Zidane to us?" the queen asked, gesturing for the knights in the throne room to leave.

Garnet remembered the mix of emotions from the moment she saw the sopping wet, freezing boy suddenly appear in the throne room like that. She remembered Steiner and Beatrix's different welcomes toward Ramuh, and she remembered Zidane's embarrassment when he realized he was getting the floor all wet. "He brought Zidane to us, asking that we take him under our wing for protection because he was special."

"Zidane was special because he, along with Kuja and Mikoto, were from another world."

The princess gaped, despite herself. She quickly shut her mouth, blushing apologetically for being so rude. Brahne shook herself sadly. "No one else on Gaia is like them. And there is no one on Gaia like you, my dear."

"…What do you mean, Mother?" Garnet slowly asked. She felt a slight shiver run down her spine. Before her eyes flashed a pair of menacing, hungry eyes.

Brahne, swallowing her fears, drew her daughter close again. "You're sixteen today. You deserve the truth at last. Eleven years ago, you washed up on the shores of Alexandria with the broken remains of a boat…."

((((()))))

"Alright, lower it down here, boys! Nice an' easy… Cinna! Nice an' easy, don't just slop it down here!" Baku directed, sneezing every few words. Grumbling about Cinna's inability to properly lower a stage, Baku turned to the band and fussed at them.

This had to be perfect. Anything less of their performance would land everyone but Baku outside sleeping on the roof again. Thousands of nobles would be coming to see both their play and the royalty. Just thinking of the bounty they'd get out of those suckers brought a goofy grin to Baku's face.

"You're not planning to steal from my city," Zidane started, strolling up to startled thief with his hands behind his head, "are you?"

Baku let out a rolling laugh. "_Your _city, now? Bwahahaha! How'd the babysitters let you get away this time?"

"I sincerely promised Beatrix," he simply explained, looking around for Kuja.

"He's up on deck trying to whip my lazy boys to work. Blank's complaining he lost the lead part to Marcus, Marcus is gloating he got the part and picking on Ruby because of the kiss they've gotta make, and you know Cinna's going to be idle no matter what. If Kuja wasn't so nick-picky, he'd be perfect," he wistfully said. Up at the crack of dawn to make everything tidy and clean because of this weird best-he-can-get phase Kuja was in drove Baku insane. Especially when he stayed home to be a freaking house maid instead of out and about town getting the goods.

It seemed impossible to find any good thieves, Baku always thought when a migraine his boys caused came up, but he supposed he had the best available.

Zidane looked up at the Prima Vista wistfully. "I sometimes wish I could go with you back to Lindblum. The clock tower you live at must be magnificent."

Baku narrowed his eyes. "KUJA!"

Up above them, the silver-haired genome leaned over the rail. "Yeah, Boss?"

"QUIT TELLIN' YOUR BROTHER ALL OUR SECRETS!" Baku yelled up, his shout falling on deaf ears when Kuja instantly turned to rush below.

"He hasn't told me everything," Zidane conceded with a sigh. "Though I'd like to know why everyone hates gyshal pickles…."

Kuja bounded up to the two and threw an arm across Zidane's shoulders. "Ruby calmed Blank down a bit, and Marcus is helping the twins set up the props, Boss."

Baku nodded, relieved Kuja hadn't shared any mutiny stories. Although he couldn't really blame them, Baku got pretty miffed to see Tantalus racing outside to the roof after a final pickle meal. "Ah, we've got things handled. You got half an hour."

Their smiles matched. "Thank you!" Zidane called, already dragging Kuja back to the castle. "I didn't tell him I know the pickle story," Zidane informed him.

"Good," Kuja sighed in relief. "Oh, I've brought back those books. Tot isn't mad Garnet let me borrow them, is he?"

For a good six years Kuja had borrowed every book the Alexandrian national library held concerning magic to keep his skills up to par. There wasn't much time to practice with Baku rushing them around Lindblum to "pick some things up from the market", but little by little he had mastered every spell in the heavy, musty tomes.

"The professor probably hasn't even noticed they are missing yet," Zidane said, carelessly waving it off.

"You've no idea how thankful I am that it's Garnet who'll ascend the throne," Kuja muttered as Zidane threw in an evil laugh for the heck of it.

They both paused as Garnet walked into view, her face pale and hands clasped behind her back. She recomposed herself once she caught sight of the two brothers. "Oh, hello, Kuja. I see Zidane has pulled you away from Baku?"

Zidane wasn't about to let her change the subject on them. "It's your birthday- don't frown! Think of the presents, Garnet. After the play, we've hours to spend trying to open them all. And of course, the new Qu chef will make an enormous cake."

"That you'll only eat whole," Garnet started, cocking at eyebrow, "completely by yourself. Mother and I will have to scavenge for crumbs- if there are even any left after you've finished."

Zidane grinned and jerked a thumb at Kuja, who somehow knew this would end with him in trouble with Boss. "Tantalus always goes out into town after a play. Kuja could buy you a birthday meal somewhere in town!"

As Kuja burst into a reprimand- "It's her _birthday_, Zidane! The palace will go into a frenzy if she ups and leaves today!"- and a small smile formed on Garnet's face. She had to admit Zidane had a strange way of knowing her every thought. If she wasn't used to it by now, she would say it was frightening.

After the king died, Garnet had only one dream: to leave the palace and her life as a princess behind. Without telling him, Zidane had somehow picked up on this dream and began mock planning as to what they would do once away from the palace. Zidane had suggested they escape under Steiner's nose, so he would chase after them. Garnet, who was much kinder to the captain than her brother, shot down the idea and proposed they sneak on board the Prima Vista some time Tantalus visited. Zidane would argue that Kuja, who the prince proclaimed to be a major tattle-tale, would only send them back home.

But neither of them really considered carrying out their plans. It was quite absurd, really, and they both knew it.

The outside world was a mystery to remain unsolved to them.

((((()))))

"As the sun lends me no ear," Kuja proclaimed, turning to face the crowd with a mask of determination, "I pray instead to the twin moons."

This particular part always made him feel queasy. Spreading his arms wide always made him feel like he was welcoming Terra onto his sanctuary of Gaia. As if he were awaiting Garland's return and the beginning of the war that would kill so many.

"I beseech thee, wondrous moonlight: grant me my only wish…!"

_Bring Mikoto back to us!_

"Bring my beloved Cornelia to me!"

Slowly, his arms dropped back to his side. "But… it is impossible. My Cornelia shall never…. But I shan't give up hope now!"

He turned back to the wooden castle prop and drew a dull sword. "I shall fight for my love until yonder morrow comes that I draw my final breath! Behold, foulest king that keepeth us apart, thy death draweth nigh!-"

A strong wind blew through the courtyard, nearly knocking Kuja over. He looked up at the moons, fearing the worst. Neither had moved, but there was something blocking their light. A dark shadow fell over the castle.

Kuja and Zidane's eyes met. Zidane instantly grabbed Garnet's hand and they rushed back inside.

Another wind blew through, the sound of a craggily roar synchronizing with the screams emanating from the nobles in the crowd. The rooftop viewers were gone, blown off from the gusts.

The shadow roared again and flew away from the moons, revealing it to be a dragon of sorts. Blue and red hues radiated off its silver feathers.

_Hmph, fools. To think they seek to overthrow a masterful plan as glorious as mine! None shall stop me from attaining my revenge on that wretched Garland._

Kuja blinked in surprise as the dragon landed in front of him. It roared, knocking him on his back, but made no move. _Is it…?_

He waved a hand in front of its face, casting a spell of telepathy.

"_I come with a foreboding. The time of this world's life draws to an end. A new age- an age of Terra's reign- is slowly beginning to fall into place. Master Garland offers you one last chance to escape Gaia and return to Terra with me. He trusts you bring Zidane along with you. Your sister is awaiting your arrival._"

A wave of pain split through his skull. Searing flashes of flames and rain and endless death….

_I don't deserve to live after all that I've done. I'm useless to this world._

His death?

"_Master Garland gives you three days. Leave with me, or perish with the rest of this pathetic world._"

"One moment," he said softly, standing with the utmost grace. "If you would, relay a message to Garland."

The dragon cocked its head. "_Certainly_."

"Tell him that he can go jump off a cliff and die," his scornful voice spat with mocking elegance. "If I were to go to Terra, it would only be so I could personally be the one to kick him off that cliff. Now, go back to the worthless hunk of crap Garland thinks will win this war."

Snarling, the dragon snapped, but all he bit into was a firaga spell. The silver dragon roared and flew back into the sky, disappearing into the sea of stars.

Kuja looked back at what few spectators were left in the audience, huddled in the corner weeping over each other. He adverted his eyes and turned back to the stage.

He had to get Zidane away. He wouldn't lose him like he'd lost Mikoto.

Kuja had a premonition of death. He sincerely prayed it wouldn't be theirs.


	6. Chapter 6

**Heeeere's chapter six! We're finally making progress into the plot!**

**Everyone should know the drill by now: Please review!**

**Chapter 6- So We'll Always Remember**

"Zidane," Garnet huffed whilst they ran from the silver dragon outside, "there's something I need to tell you."

"After I get our birthday girl away from danger," he said, taking a sharp turn left out to the gardens. "I think now is our chance, Garnet," Zidane realized, slowing down to a stop. He turned to her with a bright face. "Baku will make Tantalus leave right away, and with the guard in a frenzy, it will be the perfect chance for us to sneak onboard the _Prima Vista_."

Garnet's eyes widened. "What are you thinking! We cannot leave Alexandria in such a state!"

"That dragon had to have been from Garland. He only wants Kuja and I. If we leave Alexandria, he will not harm the city."

"So you suggest we stay at Lindblum, where countless Lindblumese citizens will be in danger? Perhaps we should invite the Burmecians to join your death parade as well!"

Both flinched at what she said. Garnet went pale and took a hesitant step back. "Zidane… I am not the true princess. I… I too have seen the horrors Garland plans for Gaia."

He put a hand on her cheek, the simple touch springing lighting into her nerves. The look in his eyes was different from anything she had ever seen from the blonde. Zidane looked at the pendant hanging around her neck. "Alexander," he breathed. "You… are a Summoner?"

"And you are not from Gaia."

"No. I'm from Terra. Garland wanted Mikoto and I to be Gaia's death bringers. From the beginning, Garland planned to destroy Gaia. Somehow, that would bring life back to Terra. I-I don't remember the details, but war and the deaths of thousands fit into the equation," Zidane said, a constricting feeling in his chest he hadn't before noticed finally loosening. How it easily it came to him, those old memories resurfacing after so many times he pushed them to the very back of his subconscious. The details were coming back, but vaguely. He remembered hating Garland and the things he told him. Terrifying things Garland found glee in.

Zidane finally realized why Kuja tried so hard to find a way to get them away from him. Garland was a sadistic overlord. He didn't want to bring the people of Terra back for their sakes, he wanted them back so he could rule them. He would have complete and total control over the genomes, crushing the souls within them and bending them to his will.

In no way was Garland's intentions good.

He paused a moment, judging Garnet's reaction. She had gone pale, but only nodded. "And of Kuja? How did he fit into Garland's plans?"

Zidane shook his head. "He wouldn't want me saying anything. I'm sorry, Garnet."

She nodded, already knowing the answer anyway. The reason Kuja couldn't help but steal the stage each play, couldn't stand mocking jokes of any kind directed at anyone…. Garland hadn't planned anything for him. He wasn't supposed to fit into the "equation", as Zidane said.

It made Garnet stop and think of what truly lay ahead for Gaia.

And for Zidane.

((((()))))

Baku had a truly off-handed way of making a situation seem less dire. In the silence that followed once Kuja left the stage, the first sound heard was Baku's sneeze. Then, in a roar, the troupe leader demanded, "What is going ON!"

"I expect the end of the world has just begun," Kuja slowly stated, startled by how nonchalantly he said it. Now the end of the world was trifling? Well now.

His brothers in Tantalus gaped. Ruby's eyes widened and her hand slipped from her hip.

"And… I suppose the job of saving Gaia falls on my shoulders?" Kuja realized in dread. He would have to fight Garland, stop the assimilation of Terra and Gaia- as if he even knew how that would even go about happening!- rescue Mikoto somehow, and… and…-

How very ironic.

Blank plopped down in his seat, staring at the floor in disbelief. "We're gonna have to help ya, too…," he murmured. Blank looked at his gloved hands, making everyone remember they were still in costume. No one moved to change back into their regular clothes.

"It'll be suicide." Kuja blandly intoned, reminding everyone of "last time".

Ruby flared with indignation at the thought of losing to that old man again. She stomped over to the curtain, spinning on her heel and proclaiming loud and clear, "We're _Tantalus_, not the _Pansies_. If our world is gonna end, we've gotta do somethin' about it! Gaia's our home as much as it's yours, Kuja, and so help me if I gotta prove we're able 'nough to fight that stinkin' old man, you'll be stuck in bed nursing the beat down of a life time. Shut yer trap and let's go find them two knights hanging 'round the royals all the time."

"Steiner and Beatrix," Kuja awed. "They're Alexandria's finest. I sincerely doubt we'll be enlisting them anytime soon."

Blank suddenly cracked an evil grin. "They'll have no choice, if we take off with the royals."

"No. No! Absolutely not!"

((((()))))

"I figure we have mere minutes before Steiner storms the castle looking for us," Zidane planned, stuffing a blanket and pillow into a suitcase. Garnet packed their tooth brushes and combs into a pack she had gotten from one of the passing-by servants. She had said she needed it as a present for Tantalus. It was a horrible lie, and Garnet knew the servant was obviously aware of the whole situation, but she figured he wouldn't tell until after they were long gone in Lindblum.

Garnet frowned in agreement. "We must plan for where we will go after Lindblum. Somewhere secluded, so no civilians are injured in a battle."

Zidane shook his head in disbelief. They were running for their lives, and Garnet cared only for others. One day, she would really make a great queen, Zidane realized. Everyone would love her. Perhaps even more than Brahne and Azurel before her.

Yet Zidane couldn't picture himself in the castle once she ascended the throne. It seemed so out of place for him to be at the castle- from the very second he had stepped into the throne room that day so many years ago, he had felt like an intruder. Leaving Alexandria seemed like the first normal thing he had ever done.

"Pinnacle Rocks is nearby Lindblum, isn't it? Perhaps Ramuh will be willing to help us."

Zidane thought back to the conversation he and Beatrix had had before the play. He took her warning to heart and shook his head. "No. We can't trust him. Ramuh may tell Mother where we've went."

Garnet frowned and halted her hasty packing. "Mother…," she whispered, taking a deep breath. "She is not our mother, Zidane. If we truly are to leave, we cannot refer to her as such. We must do this on our own- for… for Alexandria and our neighboring countries."

"This isn't about the kingdom, Garnet," Zidane soberly pointed out. "This concerns all the world. Somehow, we must stop Garland. No matter the cost, we must make sure Garland can't follow through with his plans. We can't rely on Kuja either, then. He'll think we're in danger and send us back. We… really are on our own…."

They started packing again, this time silent.

"Princess? Prince?"

Zidane flinched in surprise, glaring at the door. "Steiner! Quick, Garnet, let's go out the window."

The princess shouldered her backpack and pulled her cloak's hood over her head. "Tantalus might also be searching for us, so we must take care in choosing where we hide."

"We'll discuss that once we're out of the castle."

Zidane lifted the window and helped Garnet outside, inwardly thanking the heavens there was a balcony beneath them to drop on. Before they started their silent run to the airship, the two of them stopped and looked back at the castle. The sword reflected back the moonlight, bathing the gardens around them in a silvery hue.

Their home was slowly becoming a memory. The laughter shared in its hallways were becoming mere echoes of happier days.

Garnet knew, as they turned and restarted their sprint, that they would never see this place again.

A tear ran down her face.

((((()))))

"You don't know where they've gone?" Kuja burst.

Beatrix scowled at him. "No, but I assure you we are searching the entire castle for them. It'd be best if Tantalus went back to Lindblum to warn the regent while we handle matters here."

Kuja returned the glare. "Handle matters here? With a dopey squadron of Pluto Knights and an army that'd be to obvious if sent into the city looking for them? And you suggest we leave and do _nothing_?"

"Yes," she snapped coldly. Beatrix crossed her arms, growing more and more infuriated with the mage by the second. "No matter your relation to the prince, I will not stand to have Alexandria's pride insulted by a street rat as yourself."

Cinna, Marcus, and Ruby sighed as Kuja blew up at the comment. Blank reached out for his arm to drag him back to the _Prima Vista_ before a fight started, but Kuja only turned his acid glare on him.

Guess there's no stopping him once something hurts his pride,

Blank inwardly grumbled, stepping back with a look of obvious disdain.

"Street rat!" he burst, turning back. "How can you say that of me, when you're nothing but an insipid crow, too haughty to accept our help?"

Beatrix drew her sword, snarling at the insult, and Kuja readied to counter with a spell. The air had gone crisp and cold, tension so thick it choked Tantalus and stunned soldiers that had come with Beatrix. "I have cut down _thousands_. Do not think I won't do the same to you if you further impede our search for the princess and prince," the general growled, narrowing her single eye.

"The fate of Gaia is at stake," Kuja instead reminded her, "and the last place those two need to be is somewhere as obvious as Alexandria when Garland comes and enacts his plan. Not even _you _can stand a chance against him."

"I'll hold my own far better than you," Beatrix grimly swore. "There is more to fighting than the sham you perform on stage. Childish sword fighting will only-"

Blank finally interceded, calmly ignoring both the general's and Kuja's glares boring holes into him. "If we'll only get in the way, we'll leave. But he is right," Blank said, trying to lower the heavy anxiety of everyone in the room. "We've seen Garland, know what he's capable of. He'll stop you before you even have time to draw your sword. At least be wary, if you're going to be so stubborn."

Turning towards the _Prima Vista_, Blank waved for Cinna, Marcus, Ruby, and Kuja to follow him back to the ship. Getting the general's help was as futile as he'd expected. Once out of earshot, however, Blank couldn't help but crack a grin. "'Insipid crow'?" he chuckled.

Kuja dryly regarded him. "I figured calling her a one-eyed cod, but I settled for crow."

"Like the fish?" Marcus asked, confused.

"Look it up in the dictionary."

Ruby, who had looked it up after Kuja had said it about the senile old man who'd thought he was a woman, leaned over and whispered it to him. Marcus's eyes went uncharacteristically wide, and he whistled low. "That's… just rude. But," he had to admit, "a pretty good one."

Suddenly, Marcus furrowed his eyebrows. "Wait- does that mean you actually sit and read the dictionary? What is _wrong _with you, man?"

Blank wearily again cut off the beginning of an argument by shouting, "No luck, Boss. Let's head back to Lindblum to tell Cid."

Baku answered him with a sneeze and began shouting for everyone to get to their posts. Kujalet out a _humph!_ and left for the engine room.

((((()))))

"Sounds like we're headed for Lindblum," Zidane whispered.

Garnet, beginning to feel claustrophobic within the too narrow closet they'd quickly hid in, nodded. "If I remember correctly, we can travel northeast to the south gate where we can find a village called Dali. There, we can find an airship or some information on how to get off the continent."

Zidane cocked an impressed eyebrow at Garnet, already thinking ahead, as always. "There must be some way to stop Garland's plans. And if we can't do it here on Gaia, we must do it on Terra."

His smile instantly turned down. "But we're going to avoid Terra as long as possible," Zidane decided solemnly, with an expression Garnet rarely got and hated to see. "Garland will prove too much for us if we don't have back-up."

"Back-up? We're going to bring others into this mess?" Garnet asked with a growing worry.

The grin was back, albeit slightly forced to keep up appearances. "Who knows? Perhaps we'll eventually get Kuja to tag along, or, if and when they catch up to us, Steiner and Beatrix as well."

"No civilians," Garnet made him promise with a sigh.

Zidane nodded in agreement. "No civilians."

The ship purred to life, slightly shaking as they ascended into the sky. Garnet gasped in giddy glee, momentarily forgetting the terrible situation they were in.

At last. They were free from the binding life of royalty.

But, she realized with a twinge of guilt, they were giving up their home and abandoning those they knew so well at the palace. Garnet wondered how her mother- no, _Queen Brahne_- must be feeling, unable to find her adopted children and shaken from the dragon's threats.

As elation set in, overpowering their doubts, Zidane dared a peek out of their closet. "I don't see anyone. I think we can get out for a while."

Garnet nodded, inwardly sighing in relief, and brushed off her muddy white dress. Their escape had ruined it, but-

She suddenly froze. "Zidane…."

"Huh?" he asked. He froze once he caught on. "We forgot."

"We have to find disguises," Garnet unnecessarily pointed out.

Guilt pelted them again. "Well… we _are _on a theatre ship…."

Garnet didn't need to point out it would be stealing. It had to be done. And fate seemed to agree with them, since the first place they had chose to hide in was a costume room of all places. Silently, Garnet knelt next to the large trunk and looked for a common-looking outfit. Zidane grudgingly did the same, muttering something about how Kuja was going to _kill _them for throwing the clothes around.

But then again, he wouldn't have the chance, because the second the airship touched the ground, they would be gone.

"Um… I'll just be a second… back in the closet," Garnet stuttered, grabbing her maroon skirt and white blouse close as she skittered back to blessed privacy.

Zidane quickly changed into black pants, a white sleeveless shirt, and a black vest he assumed went with the pants. Thankfully, it fit him perfectly. "Where are we going to put our old clothes?" he asked when Garnet emerged, bringing her stuffy dress out. She took off her crown, staring wistfully at it. With a sad sigh, she slipped it in the very bottom of the trunk. Zidane shrugged and followed suit.

Once they had more or less stuffed everything back inside, Zidane sat on the trunk and looked around the room.

Eventually, he began to complain. "I'm so bored, Garnet. Why didn't we think to bring something to entertain ourselves?"

"I told you to get a book," she reminded him, holding hers up for proof.

"That would only put me to sleep," he whined.

She rolled her eyes and blocked out his complaints, diving into her book, one consisting of Lord Avon's classics. Zidane no doubt would enjoy this particular book, she knew, but she decided to toy with him for know. That was entertainment enough for her.

Letting out a nagging groan, Zidane knew he was going to hate this trip.


	7. Chapter 7

**This chapter is mostly dialogue… but it's important dialogue with just the right amount of light-heartedness. And I updated pretty fast!**

**Please review? Before this wonderful writing bug leaves me?**

**Chapter 7- A Fatal Mix-Up**

Ruby's eyebrows furrowed as she fingered a fabric she'd never felt before. "What is this…?" she started, pulling the soft fabric out from the bottom of the costume trunk. Her mint eyes widened at the flawless stitch work on the ivory and emerald dress, the bottom spattered with fresh mud. "Aw, no!"

Upon finding a suit made for royalty, just as muddy as the dress, she slammed her fist on the trunk and spun on her heel back to the bridge. "Boss! Boss! We had stowaways!"

Kuja narrowed his eyes at the dress. "They're really that insane?" he muttered, looking out the bridge's window to the storm brewing outside. But despite the worry he should've felt, Kuja couldn't help but chuckle.

_Maybe you won't need my help this time after all, Zidane. Bravo._

((((()))))

"We packed enough food, so all that's left is something to protect ourselves with," Zidane said, checking items off a mental list.

Garnet held up a dagger she'd grabbed on their off the _Prima Vista_. "I found one. We need one more for you, and perhaps a second in case one breaks or we lose it."

Zidane grinned and dug out their money pouch. He tossed it in the air and caught it easily. Garnet rolled her eyes and refused to give him the satisfaction. "Goofball," she giggled, looking around at the marvelous city. "Just imagine what the business district looks like," the princess awed.

Grabbing her hand, Zidane took off towards the air cab. "Let's find out!" Zidane swerved up to the cab just in time before it took off. Garnet meekly apologized for their hasty entrance, but the conductor only smiled and sent them on their way. In the seat across from them was a woman in a red outfit. She had her head down, silver locks hiding her face. Beside her was her weapon, a javelin that had the look of battle on it.

At last, the woman looked up, startling both Zidane and Garnet. She was Burmecian.

Relations with Burmecia had slowly gotten colder after the short, sudden battle so many years ago. A Burmecian, or Cleyran, for that matter; hadn't stepped foot into Alexandria since. All that Garnet and Zidane had known of Burmecians were their warlike ways- and neither had forgotten being shot out of the sky by them.

Despite that, Zidane's face lit up with a grin, as if he was greeting an old friend. Garnet was a little more than confused, but then again, when it came to Zidane, the only thing Garnet knew was that whatever she thought about him was almost always proved wrong.

"Hi," Zidane started conversationally.

The Burmecian smiled back, but it was more out of wry humor than anything else. "Hello. Travelers?"

"Yes, we've come a long way from Dali to see the city. All that farm work finally paid off, eh, sis?"

Garnet blinked in slow confusion. Then it hit her that it wasn't best to say they were from Alexandria. She nodded enthusiastically. "We left by airship. Just got here today."

"I've just arrived as well," she said. "I traveled the plains from Gizamaluke's Grotto. I'm on a bit of a vacation from my work as well."

"Oh? Are you a soldier?" Zidane asked, still keeping up the enthralled farm boy act. "That's a pretty cool spear.

She nodded, quietly regarding the pole. Her gaze flickered to sadness for just the briefest moment before she said, "My name is Freya. Freya Crescent."

"I'm… Steiner, and my sister is Beatrix," Zidane quickly thought up. He felt silly for choosing names like the captain's and general's, but Tantalus's names would have been too recognizable.

"Pleasure to meet you, Freya," Garnet said.

Freya dipped her head. "Likewise."

The cab came to a slow stop and Freya grabbed her javelin. She waved for the two to leave first. With a grin, Zidane held the door open for her. "I hope that next time we meet," Freya said, turning to walk off, "you won't need those silly aliases."

Zidane and Garnet only let out a simultaneous sigh. "Mark that on the list, Zidane," Garnet said. "We need to work on our improv."

"Noted."

((((()))))

"I TOLD YOU, YOU CAN'T MAKE A SWORD WITH THAT WIMPY FLAME!"

"WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST I DO, MELT THE THING?"

"IT'S CALLED _CONTROLLING THE FIRE_, YA DIMWIT OF A SON!"

Zidane and Garnet nervously exchanged looks. "Um… sirs?"

Father and son, eyes fiery from their argument, turned to them. Whatever disagreement had passed between them faded in an instant. "Hello!" the father said, rushing back to the counter. "Travelers? What kind of weapon are you looking for?"

"Two daggers," Zidane said, digging out the first. "I use two, and this is hers."

He blinked in surprise as he said it. _When have I ever been so light-hearted talking about weapons like this? And two? What am I thinking?_

But a small voice somewhere deep within him told him that it _was_ completely normal; he just hadn't realized it yet.

It was times like these Zidane questioned his sanity.

The son, without even being told to do so, brought out a tray of assorted daggers and knives. "Rest assured, these are the best in the kingdom," he said jovially. "The Mage Masher is pretty good for the monsters around here and in the mountains."

Zidane's eyes lit up at seeing the magnificent blade. His fingers itched to take them all and run off, but after deciding he really _was_ insane, Zidane took the daggers the son had mentioned. With a sinking reluctance, he handed over their bag of money and took the two daggers, twirling them between his fingers.

The pair of Mage Mashers sang when they split the air- making Zidane like them all the more better. "These are great. Thank you, sirs."

"No, thank you, for your business! Come back anytime for a quality weapon!"

The father and son waited with fake smiles on their faces until Zidane and Garnet were gone. Then, acting as though they had forgotten all about their customers, resumed their fight:

"_I'M _THE DIMWIT? _YOU'RE_ A SENILE OLD MAN!"

"DON'T TALK TO ME LIKE THAT, YOU UNGRATEFUL WHELP!"

"WHY, I OUGHTA…."

"OUGHTA WHAT, YA LITTLE BRAT?"

Garnet only shook her eyes, eyes wide in surprise at the son's horrible speech towards his father, but a betraying smile tugged at her lips.

It was crazy, she knew, but she loved the freedom the city gave.

The kind of freedom she'd wanted for so long….

"Garnet, I believe we should leave now. To reach Dali, we will have to travel through the Southern Gate," Zidane started, begrudgingly stealing her rapt attention and wonder from Lindblum.

She nodded, unconcerned about leaving the city so suddenly. In the half hour they had been there, she already felt as though she had ventured through every alley, met and befriended each citizen…. "Alright. We should make it before evening sets."

Zidane yawned, as if finally noticing they had stayed up all night on the Prima Vista. It couldn't have been past seven o'clock now, but they could get their rest once they reached the small farm village.

((((()))))

The South Gate was magnificent. Above them, airships traveling through split through the morning sky, carrying crops to the cities. It was almost a sight more magnificent than Lindblum- but not quite. No, Cid was truly ingenious to have a city as industrious and bravura as his.

Garnet took a deep breath and followed after Zidane, striding forward with a confidence Garnet couldn't find within herself. "We're leaving town for my sister's birthday," he easily lied, flawlessly copying a Lindblumese accent. "Actually, we were hoping to go Alexandria."

"Coming back home so soon?" the guard asked, waving others over. Zidane's hands dropped to his sides, fingering the two daggers under his cloak. "The castle's been in an uproar for you two," he continued.

They were surrounded in a second.

"Time to come back home."

"Sorry," Zidane smiled, drawing his daggers, "but that's not an option."

He whipped around and butted two guards with the daggers' hilts, breaking an opening in the circle of guards. Garnet steeled her gaze and held up her own weapon. "Garland is coming back!" she told them as she turned to run after Zidane, knocking down soldiers like a Zaghnol. "We cannot wait at the castle and do nothing!"

"Run towards Lindblum!" Zidane told her, kicking an incoming soldier out of their way. "We'll shake them off at that forest we saw earlier and go to Treno."

Garnet gaped, but followed him anyway. Treno? What would they do in Treno? If they went there, they would have to travel the mountains to get to Dali. They only had packed enough supplies to last them until Dali- just a few snacks and an extra cloak for them each. They couldn't survive such a long trip.

Zidane took a sharp left, nimbly jumping a boulder. He sheathed his daggers and grabbed Garnet's hand. "We have to hurry," he unnecessarily reminded her. Garnet stared into his deep blue eyes and saw a spark that hadn't been there yesterday. She wondered if she had the same look in her eyes as she nodded and felt a ghostly smile turn up her lips.

"Right."

((((()))))

"D-did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"That… that sound," Garnet lamely explained for lack of better words to describe the strange noise.

Zidane's eyebrows furrowed and he pulled out his daggers. After a moment of calm, serene silence, he shrugged. "Maybe you're hearing things. I don't-"

A giant yellow bird suddenly emerged out of the trees. Zidane and Garnet went pale. "I think the sound came from that," Garnet whispered, slowly and shakily bringing her dagger up in a protective stance.

The two stared in awe as a smaller, younger one emerged behind it. Garnet's expression of fear changed in an instant. "It's so cute!" she burst, startling both the birds and Zidane.

"Cute?" Zidane asked, wondering how in the world something she'd just been afraid of could suddenly turn _cute_.

His sister nodded enthusiastically, sheathing the dagger. She whistled, making his eyes widen in shock. "Don't call it over! What if it's planning to feed us to its baby!"

But Garnet paid him no mind and held out her hand. "Aw, come here, precious!" she cooed. Suddenly, she got an idea. Garnet pulled out an apple from her satchel. The birds darted over. Cautiously, the mother bird reached out to get a bite. Zidane and Garnet relaxed once she swallowed it whole and let out a happier _Wark!_ than before.

"It looks big enough to ride," Zidane observed.

Garnet scowled at him. "_She_ has a baby to care for. We cannot separate them."

He held up his hands in defense. "I never said anything of the like. Though perhaps if we could find another…." Zidane shook his head to his own thought. "We don't have time to look for one. Those guards could show up any moment. Let's just go to Treno on foot."

Sighing, Garnet nodded and petted the bird's head. "I'll come see you again sometime," she promised. "Farewell, little one."

Zidane couldn't resist petting it once either, then took the lead once more.

((((()))))

"The royals _knocked you guys out_?" Baku asked incredulously.

Kuja covered his grin and stifled a giggle. "Lindblum's finest, taken out by two highly inexperienced, sheltered children?"

The captain glared at the two from under his helmet. "They had weapons," he grumbled.

Marcus nodded. "That explains the missing dagger. Must've bought another in town."

While Baku inquired about where they had run off to, Kuja turned around and looked out at the plains himself, trying to picture where Zidane would have gone. He caught sight of a forest spreading out from the mountains to the sea.

Another grin, one he didn't bother to hide, lit up his face. _You are dreadfully easy to figure out. Whatever will you do in Treno?_

During his revelation, Tantalus had somehow found an argument without his help. With them occupied, Kuja quietly slipped away. This raucous crowd would be an eyesore in Treno- too easily recognized from former shows. Word would spread, Zidane and Garnet would hear, and they would take off before they could even find them. It would be much simpler if Kuja went by himself.

And so he did.


	8. Chapter 8

**TWO DAYS! See that? I AM capable of updating fast! The other chapters should come about as fast as this, since I have through chapter 15 planned out. I plan for this story to be around twenty or so chapters.**

**Please review?**

**Chapter 8- Unraveled**

It was obvious they didn't belong in the Dark City.

Garnet felt the accusing, probing stares face them the instant she and Zidane stepped into the city, and it made her more than uneasy. What if someone among the nobles recognized them as the missing royalty? Or, even worse, if the thieves scattered about took note of their status and plotted to steal their precious supplies?

Garnet remembered her lessons on Treno back in her castle days. Tot had given her many books to read on the city, each plummeting her desire to ever visit. Strains on the political ties to and from Alexandria and Treno troubled the citizens. Treno was an independent province shared by Alexandria and Lindblum. Its point in the mountains kept it well protected, but also very isolated from the rest of the nations. Governed by no one, Treno had no military or police force to establish order within the city. It was a free-for-all within its walls- nobles who risked their fortunes came and went as they pleased to attend auctions and Tetra Master matches; thieves and the impoverished came in search of a chance to share in the nobles' wealth.

Zidane assuredly took her hand and, with a confident smile, met each person's eye in the square. They quickly turned back to their business. "We should look for a place to stay where Tot can't find us," Zidane decided, straying down the more destitute path. A feeling of uneasiness washed over Garnet, but she followed after Zidane anyway. So far, his decisions had all proven to get them to the places they needed to be.

"Zidane… how soon can we move on to Dali?" Garnet asked, shying closer to him as the alleys got darker and smells got considerably worse.

"We have to travel through the mountains, since we're too easily recognized at the gate. It won't be a short trip. Garnet… don't be scared. We have nothing of considerable value to be stolen anyway," he pointed out with the roll of his eyes. Garnet knew he was trying to throw off the thieves around them, watching them like hungry hawks.

Garnet sighed. "And we've no gil. Do you suppose we could get a job at a restaurant?"

She pitched up her theatre skirt and nimbly skirted around some unknown liquid on the cobblestone path leading to the inn. Garnet still felt guilty about taking the costumes from Tantalus, but it wouldn't have been safe to travel in their original attire. Especially now that they were in Treno.

It was wrong, but she tried to think of the clothes as a present from Tantalus since the play had been interrupted. Zidane felt the same guilt, taking care not to get the baggy, worn pants dirty. He wondered if Kuja and the others had already found their other clothes.

He wondered what Kuja would even say to this whole fiasco. Zidane figured he'd scold them worse than they had ever been reprimanded and ship them right back to Alexandria in a heartbeat, but… there was a lingering thought in his mind that wondered if they should have brought Kuja with them.

It felt like there was something missing, not have a mage with them. Even now, Zidane felt like there should have been a third person with them on their journey.

Zidane hesitated at the inn's door, receiving a confused, concerned look from Garnet. He frowned, a new guilt weighing him down. "They aren't going to let us stay for free," he pointed out in a low voice. In an even smaller voice, he advised, "Keep Alexander hidden and stay here. I'll be back in ten minutes."

He took off before Garnet could argue.

"Zidane…," she breathed, sliding down the door. Huddled in her cloak in the shadows, Garnet could have fooled anyone into thinking she had lived in Treno all her life. She kept her guard up, eyes flickering to each corner of the darkness.

_Truly_, she solemnly thought, fingering the knife at her side in case she were forced to use it, _we've stooped to a new low. Zidane has resorted to thievery to give us a place to sleep. I carry a _dagger_ at my side- of all the things…!_

Garnet let out a haggard sigh.

_Mother… I hope you recognize us when we next meet._

((((()))))

"Good evening, ma'am, sir," the guard said with a nod, watching the nobles (who completely ignored him) walk into the auction house.

Amarant Coral enjoyed his job fairly enough. On the rare occasion a thief stupid enough to try and make off with an item attempted to run, he had the pleasure of beating him to a bloody pulp and to then proceed to throw him out of the city. The King family paid him well, and for that, he couldn't complain.

Tonight was an auction like any other. The nobles were as haughty as ever and the thieves were skulking about, glaring at him as usual.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

Except for the girl.

Face hidden by an elaborate pink and black cloak pulled close around her, she quietly walked up to Amarant and leaned against the wall beside him. Amarant nodded in greeting, welcoming the next couple in. "What's up?"

She took out a pad of paper and a pen and began scribbling.

Amarant had run into this peculiar girl several times during his career. She never went into the auction, never got into the lower class's meddlesome plots, but she shadowed his post almost everyday.

Not once in the three years he had known her had she spoken. Amarant guessed she was a mute- a quirky one, at that. She scribbled down their short conversations and left whenever she felt like it.

He didn't even know her name until a few months ago, when she wrote it down out of the blue.

"Myst". A weird name for a weird girl.

Amarant stuck his hand out for the note. He sometimes wondered where in Gaia she kept getting these yellow notebooks, but it was a stupid question that he doubted Myst would answer.

_Two new kids in town. One's about to get in trouble with the locals._

"Kids?" Amarant grunted, cocking an eyebrow. "What's a bunch of brats doing in Treno?"

Myst wrote her reply. _Won't we go help?_

Amarant was stunned. Myst kept him company, made small talk on that little book of hers, then left until the next time she randomly popped up. "Help?" he repeated slowly, trying to peer through her hood at her eyes.

In all the time he'd known her, he also hadn't seen her face.

Myst nodded, and he almost thought he caught a flash of eyes as blue as the sky. Left speechless for the first time in his life, Myst walked off, not looking back, just knowing he was going to follow.

This girl had a lot of expectations for him, and Amarant didn't understand a bit of it.

Almost as if on cue, Amarant heard someone shout, "Thief!"

((((()))))

Zidane realized with a sinking thought that he was idiot for leaving Garnet to try and steal money from someone.

He had two daggers, which would be tremendous help if he chose to mug someone, and although something about the situation seemed warming (which made him question his sanity for the _thousandth time _this journey) and of the norm, Zidane knew he would be no match for anyone on these streets.

But they couldn't very well sleep in an alley. Alexander, their weapons, and what little supplies they had would be gone in a second.

A robust man dressed in the height of Treno fashion caught his eye, drawing him over to a small side restaurant. Only three people were at the restaurant, all of them incredibly fat and flaunting their wealth. Zidane jumped to the side of the Tetra Master building and slinked through the shadows behind them. Behind the elegant stand was a small box- full of money and other riches, no doubt. His stomach grumbled, convincing him to forget morals for a little while.

The chef turned his attention to a bumbling waitress and Zidane dashed out. He grabbed the box silently and, in mere seconds, he was gone back down the path towards the inn.

Angry shouts filled his trail. Zidane ran harder.

A traveling swordsman jumped before his path. Zidane skidded to a halt, cursing the auction for attracting this bunch. His moment of hesitation immediately turned on him. The young man drew his sword and slashed. Zidane barely missed the blow, dodging to the right. People poured out of the auction, coming to see the fight.

Zidane flipped into the air, soaring over the swordsman, but landed in front of another thief, grinning gluttonously at the bounty in his hands. Both the traveler and thief charged him.

Zidane drew a dagger, parrying the sword slashing down at him and kicked the thief out of his way. He tossed the box in the air and drew his second dagger, knocking the sword out of the man's hands. Putting the second knife in his mouth, he caught the box and took off running again.

Right as he turned into the shadier part of town, an explosion of pain erupted from his side. Zidane cried out, tripping and losing the box to the river. He stared in horror at the arrow embedded just below his ribs. The archer, who must also have been attending the auction, lowered her bow, her face stony.

Zidane tried to scoot away, but even the littlest movement sent scorching fire through his veins.

If Kuja were here, what would he say?

Zidane lost the battle with his consciousness, the world slowly melding in with the starless sky.

_He'd reprimand me for doing something as stupid as this. He'd tell me… that next time…_

Right as unconsciousness took over, Zidane feared there wouldn't be a next time for him if he never woke up.

((((()))))

Myst leaped into action, flaring out her cloak to reveal the strangest mechanical things all around a worn tool belt. Amarant was right behind her, getting into stance in front of the blonde kid who'd just been shot. "You can leave these to me," Amarant told her.

She nodded, rushing over to the boy's side.

The archer, swordsman, and thief who'd attacked him all got the same terrified expression, much to Amarant's amusement. "Get outta here," he snarled, sending them running in different directions. The nobles tripped over themselves back inside the auction.

Once the crowd dissipated, Amarant pulled the arrow out and scooped the kid up in his arms. He was a skinny thing, but anyone could tell he hadn't been going hungry before coming to Treno. Amarant cocked an eyebrow at the dagger he'd dropped. It was made of a good, strong alloy one didn't come by cheap. It also matched the other still gripped tight in his hand. _Kid certainly looks well off. What is he doing out here stealing?_

Myst picked up the blade and held up a note that read: _To the inn. I've got a room there._

Amarant nodded, somehow feeling nostalgic when he looked down at the kid.

An interesting kid indeed.

((((()))))

Garnet jumped to her feet when a red head and a cloaked figure came into view. Her widening eyes focused on the boy in the red head's arms. "Zidane!" she screamed, running over, dropping and forgetting about her dagger.

"Move, girl," Amarant grunted. "We have to patch up his side. He's bleeding all over my shirt."

She hastily obeyed, throwing the door to the inn open for him. The cloaked figure stopped in front of her, a ghostly pair of blue eyes meeting her own. _A… girl?_ Garnet blinked in surprise.

Myst led them upstairs to her room. It had two beds, a lovely view of two orphans playing Tetra Master, and a wooden floor so cold Garnet could feel it through her shoes.

Amarant laid Zidane on the bed and proceeded to rip off his shirt and shred it into pieces. Garnet went pale. A gaping _hole _was in his side.

Myst caught her arm and gently sat her down in a chair by the door. She took out a notebook from under her cloak and wrote, _We found him right as he was shot. He hasn't lost too much blood._

"Who are you?" Garnet asked in a hollow whisper, her eyes locked on Amarant wrapping up Zidane's side.

Another note from the girl read, _He's Amarant. I'm Myst._

"Got a potion on you, girl?" Amarant asked, finally looking at her through his dreadlocks. Garnet hastily grabbed one from her backpack and ran over to give it to him with shaking hands. Ungraciously, Amarant poured yanked Zidane's chin down and poured the blue liquid down his throat.

Tears started streaming down Garnet's cheeks. She dropped to her knees and grabbed Zidane's hands. "You _idiot_!" she sobbed.

Amarant stole a look at Myst, who took a blanket off the second bed and dropped it beside Garnet.

Without even a note written, she silently walked out. Amarant gave the two one last look and followed after Myst, shutting the door behind him.

((((()))))

"_Isn't it beautiful?"_

No, _Zidane thought, furrowing his golden eyebrows. His tail quirked and Mikoto, beside him frowned. _It's the very opposite. It's scary.

"_This is the Iifa Tree. The regulator of souls from Gaia to Terra. For thousands of years now, this tree has been regulating the rate at which souls flow. Soon, it will be full of miraculously terrified souls, hungry for vengeance and life renewed. We will honor their wish by welcoming them to Terra after the assimilation."_

_Mikoto's frown grew more prominent as she took Zidane's hand. Zidane dared to ask a question. Garland immediately grew wary. "Yes, Zidane?"_

_Once again, the Time Lord was thoroughly surprised._

"_The tree… has a defense mechanism, doesn't it? If the equilibrium of soul and mist production is disturbed or stopped, the tree will retaliate. Won't it?"_

"_Where… where did you hear that?"_

_Zidane looked up at him with a solemnity that almost made Garland flinch. Mikoto stared up at him like she was holding hands with a stranger. "Won't it?" he pressed._

_Garland slowly nodded. "Yes. It will annihilate whomever caused the disruption. The Iifa's roots will spring to life and destroy everything in the immediate area."_

The memory suddenly spiraled into a green, blurry scene. Zidane, noticeably older, sat next to a silver blob that looked too much like Kuja. But Kuja wasn't supposed to be gasping for breath, covered in blood….

"After you guys beat me, I had nothing left… nothing more to lose. Then, I finally realized what it meant to live…."

A thunderous roar filled the sudden blackness that overpowered his dream. It nearly swallowed Kuja's next words.

"I guess I was too late."

((((()))))

"What a racket in here," Kuja grumbled, mentally slapping himself for ever coming into the Chocobo's Forest.

Chocobos were deeper into the woods, but Kuja could still hear them perfectly fine where he stood. Going through the forest would likely give him a migraine the size of one caused by Zidane, so he opted to skirt the edges of the forest until he reached Treno.

The chocobos blessedly great much quieter the further he skirted the trees. Kuja sighed in relief. _Finally._

The brief moment of bliss was ruined with he kicked the egg. "What the…. Huh?"

It was almost the size of his head, pale yellow with white spots, and reeked of chocobo. Kuja narrowed his eyes at it, considering to leave it be for its mother to find, but something deep inside urged him to keep it.

"…At least it isn't very heavy."

Kuja dropped to one knee and took off the pack he'd brought with him. He tossed out half of the already-read books he'd brought for entertainment and gently replaced them with the egg.

"I've reached a new level of insanity," he muttered, setting out on his journey once more.

Almost in agreement, the chocobos nestled within the forest all seemed to let out a much more amused _wark! _than before.

"Shut up," he snapped, "you stupid birds!"

_Treno had best be _right outside_ this forsaken forest._


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9- Altered Time**

"Reach for my pack again," Kuja growled to the hungry thief-filled shadows, "and I will not hesitate to decapitate you _all_."

One of them scoffed. Kuja's eye twitched. In his hand he summoned a flare spell that lit up half of Treno at the least. Hungry eyes suddenly widened in fear. "Do not take me lightly," he threatened, pulling his arm back, ready to let it loose.

The thieves stumbled over themselves to escape- all but one. The quiet, cloaked figure calmly and confidently strode forward. It pulled out a yellow notepad and a pen and scribbled four words:

_They're at the inn._

Kuja called off the spell and blinked in surprise. "How do you- wait, don't walk off!"

The cloaked figure turned around, bright blue eyes peeking out from the person's shadowed face. After another glance, Kuja could tell the face was feminine. "Who are you?" he asked, quickly catching up.

She took out the notepad again. _Myst. I'm a friend, don't worry. Zidane and Garnet are at the inn, _she repeated.

Slipping the pad and pen back into a hidden pocket under her dull pink and black cloak, Myst turned away from his dumbfounded stare and walked off towards the docks. Before Kuja turned away, Myst raised her small, calloused hand in farewell.

"A friend…?"

Kuja rolled his icy eyes and started towards the inn.

A snide voice inside him quietly whispered to him, _Your only friend is yourself. Reliance on others makes you weak._

"Reliance on others isn't weakness. Most times a nuisance," he had to admit, "but never a weakness."

A laugh sounded after his declaration. The stinging feel of loneliness shadowed his every step until he reached the heavy wooden door to the inn.

Kuja paused, his hand hovering the door knob. _Friends…. I do have them. Tantalus. And I suppose that I've isolated myself from them… haven't I?_

_The only way to survive is to rely solely on yourself. The only way to stand up to Garland…_

Kuja's eyes went wide. "Shut up," he hissed. "Shut up, you don't know a thing!"

_But I do, _the stark voice intoned, immediately losing the arrogant tone from before. _I know more pain than you have ever felt. I know how death's chilly hold feels because, at the very end, I gave my trust to Him. I thought he could save me… But I was wrong. Oh, how very wrong! Friends? They are no more than an autumn breeze welcoming winter's desolate blizzards. They live only to fail you!_

((((()))))

Garnet's stomach growled. She didn't move.

It had been an hour, maybe. At some point, she had given in to Myst's blanket and wrapped herself snuggly in it. The scratchy, warm blanket was much cozier than she had presumed and wrapped within its wool cocoon, Garnet waited for Zidane to wake.

However, when a quiet rapping sounded at the door, she jumped to her feet and pulled out her dagger.

"Garnet, I know it's you. Please, may I come in?"

She gasped, nearly dropping the blade in surprise. "Kuja?" she breathed incredulously, staggering to the door. Her fears were confirmed when she opened the door. "How did you… find us?"

"Zidane is painfully easy to figure out, dear princess," Kuja tiredly sighed. "I'm afraid you are just as predictable as he is. Asleep so soon? Such a lazy-"

He froze in alarm. Kuja ran to his side, staring desolately at the bloodied sheets around him. "What happened?" he whispered.

Garnet felt another flood of tears coming. She gripped the dagger tight, feeling the rough leather grate into her soft palms. "We spend all of our money on weapons back in Lindblum. All day yesterday, we walked without stopping- we did not stop even for lunch. When we arrived here, Zidane said he was… was going to find us some money. H-he left and two people came back."

Kuja turned back to her suddenly. "Who?"

"A man with red hair and a girl in a pink and black cloak. They called themselves Amarant and Myst."

"Then that's why…," he muttered, turning back to Zidane.

After a minute of silence, Kuja started to laugh. Garnet's eyes narrowed in disdain, but, at seeing his pain-filled face, she swallowed the reprimand on the tip of her tongue.

Kuja fell back into a seat. "This always happens when I leave him on his own! Convincing me to take them to Gaia before I knew the spell, separating us- convincing me to bring you along and exposing you to Garland- for once making me think he was being _responsible-_!"

He dropped his face in his hands. "I'm a fool. Such a fool…."

Garnet resumed her post atop her massive blanket. She rewrapped herself and sighed. "You're not to blame. If I hadn't entertained him with ideas of leaving the castle, we never would have snuck aboard your ship."

"Actually… we had discussed kidnapping you both anyway," Kuja sheepishly admitted.

He and Garnet let out a wry laugh at the irony of it all. "What are your plans, then? Zidane suggested we go to Dali and seek an airship to take us far away."

Kuja shook his head. "We thought only of getting you to safety and somehow facing Garland in an epic final battle to decide the fate of the world. Perhaps we were all too wrapped up in the poetic spirit, but it did seem like a fine idea at the time."

"I think food sounds like a fine idea," a raspy, weary voice proposed.

Garnet and Kuja again jumped to their feet. "Zidane?" Garnet asked, gently shaking his shoulder.

Said genome slowly blinked his eyes, narrowing them to try and focus on her face. "Garnet?" he asked, trying to sit up. He hissed in pain and fell back. "Ow…."

"You've been injured, idiot," Kuja fussed. "You'll be laying there for quite a while."

"Kuja too?"

"He just arrived," Garnet explained. She rushed back to their bags for a canteen. She brought it back, sighing in relief when Zidane chugged it down in one gulp. "How are you feeling?"

Zidane suddenly scowled at the ceiling. "Like I'm really going to hate these next few days."

But he smiled when Garnet laughed, lightening the air even further. Kuja only shook his head in amazement, a smile tugging at his lips as well. "So long as you don't feel suicidal anymore, I suppose I'll leave the lecture for another time. Don't move. I'll bring up some dinner."

"Thank you!" Zidane called out after him. He wilted back onto his pillow, frowning up at the bland, beige ceiling above him. Quietly, he apologized, "…I'm sorry Garnet."

The princess pulled her blanket over him. "I'm glad you're alright," she said, refusing to meet his eyes. "If Amarant and Myst hadn't found you…."

"Who are they? More thieves?"

Garnet shook her head. "I don't think so. Perhaps they'll come back and you can meet them. They both seem awfully rough and quiet, but they're very good people. Amarant bandaged you himself."

Zidane nodded. "I hope they come back. I need to thank them for saving my skin back there." He suddenly laughed. "I can't believe I fought off the thief and swordsman, but the dumb archer got me. I was so close to the inn, too! Just a little farther and I could've grabbed you and ran inside- but that stupid archer…."

Readying herself for a highly exaggerated story from her brother, she sat on the foot of his bed and fingered Alexander around her neck.

((((()))))

"You're a saint, Kuja."

"Don't eat with your mouth full. Hasn't anyone taught you proper etiquette? You're a prince, sitting next to the princess. Have some manners! Besides, knowing you, you'll probably choke."

"Mmkay!"

His brother sighed in defeat, watching with disgust as Zidane practically devoured the soup he had brought up. Garnet was content with an apple and some hot tea that was much too watery, shooting down Zidane's protests that she should eat something bigger.

After the apple was gone, she enacted her revenge for him giving her such a scare by eating the cake she had smuggled from Alexandria and pulling out her collection of Lord Avon.

Suitably cowed into silence in shame, Zidane eventually fell back asleep.

((((()))))

_To be forgotten is worse than death…_

_Well… looks like my time's up! Time to die everyone!_

_You'd think that with all the problems in the world there'd be more answers._

_Promise me one thing… please come back._

All at once, the jumbled voices and pictures swirling in Zidane's head froze on one moment, one voice. Although fuzzy, he could make out a giant, jutting swirling mass of roots and vines in the middle of a barren land, scarred by heat and little rain. But right in front of him was a more enticing sight. Her face was blurry, but her hair was beautiful. Mussed by wind, but sleek and black and… and _beautiful._ Zidane wanted to hug her close, to assure he _would _come back, but his limbs were numb and leaden at his sides. His tongue was twisted, unwilling to let him say anything.

Zidane nodded, then watched as she wistfully left him to climb aboard the airship behind him. Other vaguely familiar, blurry faces watched him as he turned his back on him and began walking towards the massive tree.

_Then, I finally realized what it meant to live…I guess I was too late._

Another image flashed before him.

His breath froze in his throat, threatening to strangle him. Kuja, ashen and bloody and _broken_ at his feet….

"No…."

Zidane sat down beside him, momentarily speechless at seeing him so… so humbled. Kuja turned dead, dulled blue eyes up to the top of the tree. A serene smile creeped up on his face, as if he'd finally found peace at last in his terrible life. Right as his eyes closed- _"No, Kuja!"_- the vines erupted from above, darting towards them.

It was a split second decision. Zidane threw himself over Kuja's limp body, crying out as the vines bulleted and stabbed into his back.

Zidane's eyes snapped open.

The room was dark and, thankfully, Zidane's outburst hadn't woken up Garnet and Kuja. Garnet lay on the other bed across from him, curled up in a mount of blankets. A peaceful expression was on her face, half hidden behind a curtain of midnight hair.

In a chair on his other side was Kuja, safe.

Zidane hadn't realized he was shaking until he swallowed hard and faced the ceiling. He was terrified to close his eyes and witness that again.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when a knock on the door was heard. This time, Garnet and Kuja did wake up. Staring uncertainly at the door, Garnet slowly slid out of the amassed pile of blankets and quietly tiptoed over. "It's Amarant," an impatient, gruff voice sounded behind the door.

Garnet let out her held breath in relief. Kuja lit a lamp with a small bit of fire magic when she opened the door. "Mr. Amarant. What are you doing here so late?"

Myst, Amarant's small, black and pink cloaked shadow, glided in after him. "Just got off shift." It was hard to tell, but it appeared that under his red dreadlocks he had narrowed his eyes at Kuja. "Who're you?"

"The idiot's brother."

"I resent that!" Zidane piped up, sure that his face wasn't as pale as before. Attention was directed to him. He gently slid up into a sitting position, ignoring Kuja's harps on remaining still. Amarant and Myst certainly _looked _like a pair of bandits, as Garnet guessed they were. Amarant was tall, stiff, and had the air of someone that loved being caught in a fight. Myst was just like her namesake- mysterious and hidden. But Zidane could tell that under her cloak was a small, lithe girl. She almost looked familiar… but as soon as Zidane cocked his head, trying to see past the cloak, she shied back, ducking her head and pulling the cloak closer around her. Zidane looked back up to Amarant. "Thank you," he said quietly, feeling a lump in his throat. It wasn't guilt or an immense feeling of gratitude- it was more a choked feeling that this _was not right_.

Amarant scoffed, clearly feeling the same. "Don't do it again, or _I'll _be the one to wipe the floor with you, runt."

Zidane couldn't help the challenging smirk that came up on his face. "Really? I'd love to see you try, Red."

After a moment, a smirk quirked on the guard's face as well. "You're awfully gutsy, kid." Amarant turned back to Myst. "What were you gonna tell them?"

Myst hesitated, reaching for her notebook, but suddenly shook her head.

"Zidane and Kuja, the prince of Alexandria and a member of Tantalus, also known as two of Master Garland's genomes. I've been hired by Garland to track you both down and exterminate you."

Kuja jumped up to his feet, readying a spell. Just as lightning quick, Amarant jumped beside Myst and went into a martial arts stance. "Don't start fighting on my account," Myst sighed. Under her hood, she lifted her gaze up to Kuja's. "I've no intention of harming either of you, regardless of my mission's requirements."

He didn't move. "Then why are you here? Show your face."

Her bright blue eyes went wide, her mouth dry. "I… I…." She looked over at Zidane, just as grimly determined as Kuja. "Alright," she breathed.

She pulled back her hood, revealing short, bobbed blonde hair. A strand on either side of her face was adorned with a pink bead. Her blue eyes didn't change in the slightest, but her lips trembled with fear and anxiety.

Kuja's eyes went wide, but it was Zidane to speak. "…Mikoto?"

"Yes. I-I'm sorry," she stammered, taking a fearful step away from her brothers. Mikoto swallowed hard, meeting everyone's eyes in turn. Garnet gaped in spite of herself, too in shock to remember her manners.

Grabbing his side with a contorted face of pain, Zidane jumped out of bed.

She rushed to his side. "Zidane! Sit down! You'll reopen your wound!"

But instead, he threw his arms around her neck. "Are you alright? Has Garland hurt you? Are you alright?" the prince repeated worriedly at her shoulder.

"I-I am fine, Zidane, so please sit down," she briskly answered, all but pushing him back. Mikoto nervously wrung her hands, looking at Amarant to gauge his reaction to everything. The guard only cocked an eyebrow- his way of saying he was floored. "I apologize for lying, Mr. Coral, but it was necessary if I were to find my brothers."

He shrugged a shoulder. Zidane irritably snapped, "Don't you know how to talk?"

Kuja flicked his forehead. "He saved your life. Show some respect."

Mikoto turned to meet Kuja, then. Silently, she took his hand and attempted a smile. "I'm glad… to see you both again. I've missed you."

Zidane watched in shock as Kuja pulled his hand back. "How can we be sure you really aren't on Garland's side now?" he coldly asked, refusing to meet her eyes. "He could be controlling you right now, pretending to be our sister. Or perhaps you're just another genome, parading about like something important?"

She sighed and pulled her cloak around her. "_Life is but a shadow of death, desperate to forget its painful past,_" Mikoto quietly quoted, turning back towards the door as Kuja's eyes widened. "_And though we hope for promising years-_"

"_After shedding a thousand tears…,_" Kuja whispered.

"_Yesterday's sorrow constantly nears,_" Zidane finished, dropping his gaze to his muddy boots. "Garland's prophecy for Gaia. He only told you and me, but of course we told Kuja. He would never tell someone else…."

Mikoto nodded. Then, seeing that had been proof enough, she disappeared out the door. Amarant sighed, finding the whole scene silly, and followed. "We'll be at the King Auction House tomorrow," he bothered to say before disappearing downstairs to the bar.

Garnet sat back on her bed. She looked over to Zidane and Kuja, dazed, and quietly said, "I will go there tomorrow and see if Mikoto will join us. Surely she would know Garland's plans."

Neither brother answered, but Kuja did blow out the lamp.

"Good night…."


End file.
